


White Noise and Blue Shadows

by valya_azucena



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Developing Relationship, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Eruri Bromance, F/M, Humor, I don't know where this is taking me, I'm Sorry Isayama Hajime, POV Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Romance, Sasha and Connie are my favorite comic relief duo, Slow Burn, This Is STUPID, but i'm enjoying the trip, like really slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28943472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valya_azucena/pseuds/valya_azucena
Summary: Modern AU. Levi is a 31-year-old office worker by day, and a video game addict by night. He doesn't have many friends, but while playing he meets Mikasa, a mysterious girl who threatens to surpass his gaming statistics.
Relationships: Mikasa Ackerman/Levi
Comments: 147
Kudos: 193





	1. The friend request

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of days ago I published another work that is supposed to be serious and canon, but I had this very silly idea and I couldn't stop writing ahah. Probably someone had this idea before, because it's very commonplace, but idc, I had fun while writing :). Let's see where this story leads me.

Levi got home at around eight at night. He closed the door at his back and his dark and airless apartment welcomed him back. He forgot to air it out that morning. He took off his shoes, and loosened his tie, as he opened the window, letting the stale air escape. But outside it smelled worse. Gasoline, sewers, and pollution. In the distance, he could hear muffled horns, his neighbors’ music, and some drunk guys fighting around the corner. He breathed in Tokyo’s air. This was his life.

After he aired out his apartment, he took a beer out of the fridge and sat down in front of the TV. The only decent item he bought when he moved out on his own. Neither the discount store mattress that broke his back at night, nor the second-hand sofa, nor the yellowish microwave about to explode mattered to him as much as a good TV to play video games after his eight-hour shift. He chuckled joyless because he’s as decadent as his college friend imagined. But he had a proper job and paid his own bills. He had already fulfilled his adult role and now he just wanted to lie down and play God of Titans XVI.

He was stuck in that game for fifteen years now. He always thought he would lose his enthusiasm over time and he would grow to like other things. Adult things. But college went by. Then, graduation. Then, his first job. He was thirty-one years old already and he was still stuck in that game. Every year, a new installment or spin-off came out. And every year, he stood in the line to buy it. Indeed, video games weren’t just kid stuff anymore, but he couldn’t help but feel awkward when he wondered what his friend Erwin would say if he saw him on a Friday night getting ready to play until morning came.

His phone rang and he was afraid he had just called Erwin with his mind. Levi answered:

“Hello?”

“Get off the TV right now and come to Club Shingashina! We are going to party!”. Erwin shouted from the other end of the line. He could hear indistinct conversations and rhythmic drums in the background. Very unattractive to Levi’s ears. He sighed, as God of Titans loaded on the TV screen.

“I’m sorry, Erwin. But I’ll have to turn you down this time”, he replied and hung up before his friend protested. He got comfortable on the sofa and drank a sip of beer. After his eight-hour shift, the last thing he wanted was more hustle, stress, and social interaction in his life.

God of Titans was a role-playing game, where the main character, Eren Jeager, went through different missions and stages to learn the truth of his origins. Each release of the saga was set in a different universe: medieval, futuristic cyberpunk, contemporaneous, among others, but all universes were wisely connected through the “paths”: a kind of collective consciousness that transferred memories and wills to Eren between the different multiverses. The current installment had a Steampunk aesthetic where humanity lived locked up in ghettos to protect themselves from cannibalistic Titans swarming outside the walls. The main plot dealt with Eren joining the army and exploring the confines beyond the walls, but this new release incorporated an online mode where players competed against each other to see who killed the most Titans. God of Titans used to be an RPG with adventure mode only, so Levi was excited to try out this new feature. He took another long gulp of beer while the game console loaded the online mode.

The game randomly assigned him a team. “I will get stuck with a bunch of kids, for sure”, he thought, although he had no way of knowing. The game began when the Titans penetrated the walls, and their mission was to stop their advance to protect the civilians. Players earned points with each Titan taken down, and each sword thrust was a bonus point. This way, although they played in teams, each player had their own total score, displayed in a world ranking. Levi smiled smugly, for he didn’t play the previous fifteen installments for the past fifteen years in vain, and he quickly rose to the top of the ranking. Levi played skillfully, moving his thumbs nimbly between the controller’s buttons. In his dark room, with the TV light reflected on his pale face, he lost track of time and could spend hours in that position.

After three cans of beer, he looked at his wristwatch. It was four in the morning. He had easily reached the first position in the world ranking, securing a long distance with the players coming afterward. He would feel prouder of himself if he didn’t know he was competing against teenage boys. Although he had no way of knowing. He saw only nicknames, not the faces behind.

He stretched out on the sofa, preparing to sleep, when the player at the second place caught his eye. The player at the second place was still far from reaching his score, but the gap with the third place was surprisingly wide. He looked at the username: xXxMikasaxXx. He remembered they were in his team, moving nimbly around the forest. He noticed that they had a female avatar. He raised an eyebrow in surprise because not many women played God of Titans. Or at least back in his day. Maybe things changed. He didn’t think much about it and picked up the controller to turn off the TV. When suddenly, a message appeared on the screen.

**[22/03 – 04:17am] xXxMikasaxXx:** hey.

His arm froze in mid-air, midway through the act of turning off the TV. That player wanted to talk with him. He blinked in confusion. He didn’t accept messages in God of Titans, for he assumed that most of them were bored unsupervised teenagers playing an M-rated video game. But. A girl playing God of Titans. And with a good score. He pondered for a few moments whether to answer her or not. But he decided he wasn’t drunk enough to chat with a strange (a female stranger) at 4 am, and turned off the console.

* * *

He woke up a couple of hours later to a call from Erwin.

“Good morning, Levi” he greeted in a melodious voice that gave Levi a headache: “I hope you got plenty of sleep yesterday because there is a beautiful day outside and it would be a waste not to enjoy it by exercising outdoors”.

“Erw…”, Levi tried to articulate, still not fully awake, tangled in his sheets. But Erwin interrupted him before he could say no.

“I’m outside of your apartment. See you in ten minutes”.

Levi wondered how someone who had partied all night had the energy to exercise in the morning. And why was he dragging Levi along with him, when he was such an unpleasant companion. But Erwin was like a tailwind: he could drag anyone along with him on whatever he set his mind to. They were definitely like oil and water, and if they were still friends, it was because of Erwin’s will rather than by Levi’s initiative. Levi didn’t put much effort into being considered a friend. Although Erwin was also his supervisor at his office, and Levi had to think it twice if he wanted to deny his boss something twice in a row.

In ten minutes, he was at the building’s lobby with a pair of joggers and a plain t-shirt. He saw Erwin waiting outside, stretching and warming up his muscles as if he were preparing to run a marathon. Erwin smiled when he saw Levi and patted him on the back.

“Maybe a couple of laps around the park will get rid of those dark bags under your eyes”, he said with optimism. Levi looked at him with a hostile face.

“These dark circles won’t go away if you keep waking me up at seven in the morning”, he barked.

Erwin disposed freely of Levi’s entire Saturday, without asking him beforehand. In the morning, they ran through a park near his apartment, then they had lunch at a restaurant, and when Levi thought he was ready to leave, Erwin dragged him to a photography exhibition he was eager to visit. They didn’t finish until late evening.

“I can’t wait for the day you get a partner, so you can stop bringing me everywhere along”, Levi said, and Erwin laughed louder than the latter expected. Because he wasn’t joking.

“I’m doing this more for you than more”, he replied, patting on his back again. “If it weren’t for me, your face wouldn’t see the sunlight”. Levi bit his tongue to keep himself quiet because his friend was right.

“Well, anyway, I think we are done”, Levi said, looking at his wristwatch. He didn’t have anything to do back home, but he was longing for some time alone.

Erwin stared at him with his big blue eyes: “What are you going to do now?”, he asked.

“What?”

“What are you going to do now?”, he insisted.

Levi raised an eyebrow at his question: “I’m going to… eh… play video games”, he mumbled under his breath, looking away, hoping that Erwin wouldn’t hear him nor laugh at him.

But he didn’t laugh.

“Maybe you could teach me to play that game of yours”.

“What??”

“I said that you could teach me how to play that game you talk about all day! God! Are you deaf? I’m saying everything twice”.

Levi scratched his nape, absentmindedly. “No, I just… I didn’t think you liked video games at all”. Erwin pondered the answer for a moment.

“I don’t really know. I’ve never tried”, and then he smiled. “Come on, let’s buy some beers and you can show me.”

Thirty minutes later they were at Levi’s apartment with a six-pack of beer on the coffee table. Erwin was learning how to jump, run, and maneuver his swords in the game, though without much success. Levi couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath. It was almost like watching an old man trying to coordinate his fingers on the joystick.

“Don’t laugh. If we play in teams later, I won’t save you”.

Levi didn’t want to brag about his gaming skills, because he probably wouldn’t need Erwin’s help, so he kept quiet and they continued playing in silence. For a moment, Levi was glad he invited Erwin (although he had actually invited himself). It wasn’t so bad to share an interest with other people.

“What’s that?”, asked Erwin, pointing a notification on the screen. An icon Levi hadn’t seen until then.

**xXxMikasaxXx has requested to be your friend.**

Levi’s stomach dropped. It was the girl from yesterday.

“Ooh, wow”, Erwin commented with mock surprise. “You may not have many friends in real life, but people want to be your friend on the Internet. Very interesting”.

The joy of inviting Erwin over disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

“It must be a bot or something”, Levi grumbled. “Let it be”, but Erwin didn’t hear him

“Who is this ex ex ex Mikasa ex ex ex?”, he continued. “Oh, look, they have a female character in their picture. Is it a girl?”, he asked, smiling broadly at Levi.

“Let it be, I said”

“Well, if it’s just a bot, I might delete it…”

“Wait…”. Levi stood up.

“Then I’ll accept it…”

“No, wait!”

But before he could stop him, Erwin accepted xXxMikasaxXx’s request. Levi stood in silence for a moment, petrified in front of the screen, while Erwin held back his laugh.

**xXxMikasaxXx is now your friend**

“Do you know that if you weren’t my supervisor, I’d be kicking you out of my place right now, right?” Erwin smirked as he shrugged.

“But unfortunately, I’m your boss”, he concluded, taking a big gulp of his beer. Then, he waved his hand in the air as if the joke was a cloud that could be dispersed. “I just wanted to tease you for a while. It must be a girl who adds everyone to her friend’s list.”

“But I don’t accept people on this game”, Levi mumbled, sitting defeated on the sofa and letting out a long sigh. “Most of them are kids ten years younger than me, even fifteen”.

Erwin froze halfway through another sip of beer: “What?”

“What I just said”

“And care to tell me why are you playing a game for teenagers?”

Levi glared at him to death: “It’s not for teenagers. The game is M-rated. It’s not my fault that parents don’t care what their kids play”. Levi opened another beer and leaned back on the sofa. Erwin was still staring at him with eyes wide open.

“She is not a minor, is she?”

“That’s what I don’t know”, he mumbled. “Thanks for making me feel like a creepy old man”, and took a gulp of his beer.

Erwin tried to save the situation. “Well, you can delete her and the problem is over. She won’t notice that you accepted…”

And at that moment, a bubble appeared on the screen.

**[22/03 - 04:17am] xXxMikasaxXx:** hey.

 **[22/03 - 20:22am] xXxMikasaxXx:** heyy.

Levi spat out the beer he drank.

“Shit” Erwin swore. “Wait, did she talk to you already?” Levi wiped the beer off his face with the back of his hand and nodded. “And why didn’t you tell me?”

“And why did I have to tell you!?” he barked. Then, he sighed and massaged his temples with his fingertips. He was running out of patience. “Get me the paper towels to clean up this mess.” Erwin followed his order without complaining, and when he returned, he stared long at the screen.

“And it looks like she’s very interested in talking to you. Now she put two “y’s” into her ‘heey’”. Levi’s eyes sparkled with anger, and Erwin realized it was time to leave. He looked at his wrist, trying to act natural, but there was no watch on it. “I think it’s time for me to go”, he said, putting the empty cans in a plastic bag. Levi sighed.

“Leave it there. I will clean later”. Erwin stared at him. He knew Levi preferred to clean up and separate the garbage in his own way, so he didn’t insist.

“Well, as I told you, just delete her and that’s it. You don’t have to worry too much about it”. Erwin patted him on the shoulder and reached towards the front door before his friend threw him out the window. He put on his shoes and said goodbye. “See you on Monday”, and he closed the door behind him.

Levi sighed, sinking into the sofa and covering his face with his hands. Erwin was right. He was making a big deal out of a very small matter. He just had to eliminate her and that was it. He owed her no explanation.

He stared at the screen with the unanswered messages. He will eliminate her after cleaning up. He put the cans into the aluminum bag, cleaned the coffee table, vacuumed, and fluffed the pillows. He washed the few dishes they used, dried them, and put them away. His apartment was small, but he liked to keep it clean and tidy. Cleaning was a ritual that let him meditate and collect his thoughts. But. This time he couldn’t think of anything. He found excuses to clean up because he didn’t want to look at the TV screen again. The best thing to do was to delete her, but he didn’t want to be rude. And, on the other side, he was curious about this girl and why she insisted on talking to him.

After cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen, and vacuuming his room, he turned on his console again. He had no new messages, but the old ones were still there, waiting for something to happen.

Night had fallen a few minutes ago and Levi stood in the dark, with the blue light of the screen illuminating his pale face. He meditated a couple more minutes before making his decision.

**[22/03 - 04:17am] xXxMikasaxXx:** hey.

**[22/03 - 20:20pm] xXxMikasaxXx is now your friend.  
**

**[22/03 - 20:22pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** heyy.

And then, he typed:

**[22/03 - 21:38pm] Ackerman_87:** hey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for the record: no, Mikasa is not a minor. She is 21 in this story. But I found it funny to picture Levi worrying about not being a creepy old man ahah.  
> I don't know why but there was a lot of Levi x Erwin bromance in this chapter. Maybe I ship them in secret.  
> And last but not least, English is not my first language, so if you found any typos, or mistakes, or if you can't understand something please tell me and i will fix it right away!
> 
> Thanks a lot for reading :) !!


	2. Closer than expected

Levi closed his apartment's door behind his back. He had another long, draining day at work and he only wanted to get some rest. He looked at the time: it was nine o’clock and night had fallen over Tokyo several hours ago. He groaned. They did not pay him enough for working this much. He barely had time for anything else. His fridge was empty, he hadn't done the laundry, and he didn't remember the last time he turned on his console.

He let out a long sigh, taking his shoes off and loosening his tie. Suddenly, he felt a distinctive smell coming from his suit and wrinkled his nose. He had taken a bath that morning, but he felt filthy already. Two hours commuting in a crowded subway, ten hours running from one meeting to the other, dealing with stupid clients, writing desperate last-minute reports, eating over his keyboard, sleeping four hours at night. It wasn't healthy at all. But, was it any way out?

He got into the bathtub and the hot water calmed his stiff muscles. Gaming was his only way out, as stupid as it sounded for a 31-years-old grown man. Not that anyone mocked him about it (not that anyone dared either). Even Erwin showed interest in his hobby. He submerged his face underwater. Maybe he was overthinking again. What was wrong with enjoying a video game? Not that he could play a lot lately.

Levi came out of the bathroom with a towel covering his wet hair. The TV on the other side of the room caught his eyes. He had not played in many days. Maybe someone had surpassed his ranking in God of Titans already. He suddenly remembered the girl from the other day. The girl whose friend request Erwin accepted as a joke. A terrible joke. But. He didn’t delete the girl right away, and they even messaged each other a little. He hadn’t told Erwin yet. _As if he were going to tell him, he wouldn’t stop laughing at him for days._

But.

He had not spoken with the girl since then. He barely had time to eat and sleep, let alone play video games. The girl had probably forgotten about him by now.

Or not.

He was very sleepy but turned on the console anyway. A couple of minutes wouldn’t do any harm. He checked whether he had any new messages, but he did not. His message history remained the same as it was a couple of days ago.

**[22/03 – 04.17am] xXxMikasaxXx:** hey.

**[22/03 – 20.20pm] xXxMikasaxXx is now your friend.**

**[22/03 – 20.22pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** heyy

 **[22/03 – 21.38pm] Ackerman_87:** hey

 **[22/03 – 22.01pm] xXxMikasaxXx: h** ey there, I'm Mikasa.

 **[22/03 – 22.05pm] Ackerman_87:** I'm Levi. nice to meet you. 

**[22/03 – 22.10pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** nice to meet you too

 **[22/03 – 22.11pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** um.. can I ask you something?

 **[22/03 – 22.11pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** I hope it's not too personal

 **[22/03 – 22.11pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** but is it your last name Ackerman?

 **[22/03 – 22.20pm] Ackermam_87:** yes it is

 **[22/03 – 22.21pm] Ackerman_87:** why?

 **[22/03 – 22.35pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** because it’s my last name too.

 **[22/03 – 22.38pm] Ackerman_87:** I don't think we are closely related…

 **[22/03 – 22.43pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** me neither. My dad has no siblings.

 **[22/03 – 22.44pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** I just found it curious.

 **[22/03 – 22.44pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** I've never met someone with the same last name as me before.

 **[22/03 – 22.50pm] Ackerman_87:** me neither.

That talk was very awkward. Not that he knew a lot about socializing on the internet (or in real life), but what else could he have said? He didn't know anything about his family. He had no siblings and his mother died long ago. He only knew Uncle Kenny, but they haven't spoken in a while, and he doubted he had any offspring. Perhaps he could ask him. He was curious enough already. He looked at the time again: it was fifteen to ten. Maybe he could give him a quick call and ask him…

Levi looked up his uncle’s number on his phone and called him. He didn’t expect him to answer. He didn’t know if he had the same number as ever. But after a couple of rings, a familiar voice answered:

“Oi. Brat. You haven’t called in a while” _Sweet as ever_ , thought Levi. Uncle Kenny’s voice was gruff and surly, and he always sounded as if he had a cigar between his teeth.

“I know. Sorry”

“Just kidding. What is it? I am busy”. He heard a muffled scream in the background. Levi did not want to know what kept his Uncle busy.

“Mmmm… I know this is going to sound weird, but… “ he paused, thinking of the best way to ask him if he didn’t have any offspring hanging around. Tch. This was a bad idea. Why did he even care? “Do you know any other Ackermans?”, he finally said. He could see his uncle raising his eyebrows at the other end of the line.

“What do you mean by _other_ Ackermans?”. Levi sighed.

“The thing is… I met a girl…” Levi regretted phrasing it that way because it sounded more intense than it really was, but continued, hoping that Kenny wouldn’t notice. “… and her last name is Ackerman. And I wanted to know if we were related somehow”.

He could hear a mocking laugh on the other side of the line. _He noticed._

“Good thing you care about not committing incest.”

“Shut up, Kenny.”

“Do you want my help or not?” Levi rolled his eyes.

“…Yeah”

Kenny sighed and Levi heard him lighting his cigar and taking a long puff.

“Well, no. I don’t know any other Ackerman. There was just your mother and me”. Another long, dramatic puff. “But of course there must be plenty of them out there. What do you think? That you were special or something?” He laughed. “Just bang her already.”

“Okay. Not that I asked for your opinion, but thank you, Kenny”. Levi interrupted him and hung up the phone _. Just bang her already._ He frowned at his uncle’s words. That’s why he didn’t call him. No one asked for his advice.

At that moment, Levi looked at his TV.

**You have (1) new message.**

**[26/03 – 22:31pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** heey.

 **[26/03 – 22:32pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** guess who’s number one now.

He nearly choked.

 _Fuck me._ _That girl didn’t...._

But she did. He entered the game as fast as he could and looked for the ranking with sweating hands. There it was: xXxxMikasaxXx in the first place, Ackerman_87 in the second. He opened his mouth. But he couldn't make a sound.

_How did she…?_

He snorted, evidently pissed. He bet she did not work at all and still lived with her parents. She could play all day and night if she wanted to. Adulthood was going to hit her really hard when she grew up.

**[26/03 – 22:38pm] Ackerman_87:** I haven't logged in a while. I was busy at work. 

He typed; a bit irritated. He was going to log out when she replied back.

**[26/03 – 22:39pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** Are you going to play now?

He blinked. His eyes were puffy from the lack of sleep, and his body felt as if a truck had run over him. But. He guessed he could play a game. Or two. 

**[26/03 – 22:40pm] Ackerman_87:** Sure.

The two of them were flying through the virtual forest with their vertical maneuvering equipment. Her avatar had short black hair and moved smoothly among the trunks. She was quick to spot the Titans and reckless to attack them. She sure had improved since the last time they played together, and Levi wondered how many hours she spent on that game while he worked his back off at the office. 

It was nice playing with her, he could rely on her skills and not worry too much about carrying the whole team on his back. But she wasn’t as good as he was, and after a couple of games, Levi retrieved his number one title.

**[26/03 – 23:55pm] Ackerman_87:** Good game. But I must leave now. 

He typed. And felt a little ridiculous to let her know he was leaving. It’s not like she was interested.

**[26/03 - 23:56pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** Have fun at work. 

_Or was she?_

He stared at her message longer than he should, as if he were trying to decode a secret message behind. Then, he replied.

**[26/03 - 23:58pm] Ackerman_87:** Well, my work isn’t funny at all.

 **[27/03 - 00:00am] xXxMikasaxXx:** What do you work on?

Was she really interested or was she asking out of courtesy? Suddenly, he remembered he still didn’t know if she was a schoolgirl or not, which made him feel like a creep again. With whom had he spoken all this time? He had no way of knowing. He had to find out and act like the proper adult he was supposed to be. 

**[27/03 - 00:05am] Ackerman_97:** Just in a boring office at Roppongi. 

**[27/03 - 00:06am] Ackerman_97:** And what do you do?

His hands were sweaty, and he felt ridiculous again. Good thing she couldn’t see him nor hear him. 

**[27/03 - 00:07am] xXxMikasaxXx:** I study.

His stomach sank.

**[27/03 - 00:07am] xXxMikasaxXx:** Informatics.

And then he breathed again.

She was just a college student. All was well. 

But, what was that “all” again? He sighed. He really could use some sleep, for he was not thinking straight anymore. He finally typed:

**[27/03 - 00:10am] Ackerman_87:** Well, have fun at Uni. Bye. 

* * *

Levi closed his laptop with a loud thud and rubbed his eyes. He had just finished that week's work. It was Friday already and he could finally go home and lock himself inside his apartment with no one to talk to. No more meetings, no more last-minute requests from their clients, no more paperwork. Every end of the month was like this: loads and loads of endless work. He sighed. He was glad March was gone already. 

He grabbed his stuff from his locker and started to change his shoes when Erwin came out of nowhere.

"Levi! I was looking for you! Where have you been?", he asked with far more enthusiasm than Levi would expect from someone on a Friday evening.

"I'm on my way home", replied Levi, as he put his work shoes back on his locker.

"What are you talking about?", Erwin's enthusiasm quickly changed to disappointment. "Aren't you coming to the office’s drinking party? Come on, we are celebrating that we finished with this project already", he tried to convince his friend, but Levi could think of one hundred things he'd rather do before going to a drinking party. And sleeping was at the top of that list. "Besides, do you know this girl Petra from accounting? She’s been asking around if you’ll go. I bet she’s expecting to see you there.” Erwin grinned widely and Levi rolled his eyes. He sure knew her. He picked her to work on a project together in the past. She was a good worker, but he didn't know much more about her. 

Levi closed his locker and turned away. “Not interested”, he said and walked down the corridor before his friend could drag him to that party.

“Why not? You are not seeing anyone, aren’t you?”, insisted Erwin, following his friend as he tried to escape. 

“I’m seeing my bed tonight night”

“Alone?” 

“Yes, alone, you idiot”. 

“Come on, Levi, when was the last time you-”

“I’m not discussing this with you”, he barked, halting halfway down the hall. Erwin folded his arms and stared at his friend for a long moment. A deep, judgmental look and Levi knew what was coming next. 

“Your game is fun and all, but you could go out more”. Levi sighed. _There it was_ _again_. He was starting to lose patience. 

“Okay, I’ll go”, he finally said and Erwin celebrated. “But just don't bother me this weekend. I want to sleep"

Levi regretted going to the drinking party as soon as he stepped a foot inside the Izakaya. They booked a separate room for the group and at least fifteen people were sitting around a low table. Bottles of sake and cans of beer were spread all over the place, as people chatted loudly and cheerfully. He could see shades of pink in several noses and some of his co-workers even had their tie on their forehead. 

"Isn't it… a bit too early for that?", wondered Levi, more to himself than to someone in particular.

"They've been here for two hours I guess", said a voice next to him. He gave a startle. It was Petra, the girl from accounting. She smiled at Levi and he bowed his head lightly to greet her. "I'm glad that you came!". He looked around, trying to not make eye contact with the girl.

"Yes, I guess that once in a while it's not that bad"

"It's fun! You'll see! Come, sit with me". They sat in the little space left around the table. A group of drunk co-workers sitting nearby frowned at him in particular.

"Look at him, getting all the attention from Petra-chan"

"Do you think you are something else, ah?"

"Why are you after such a midget, come with the tall boys, Petra-chan!"

Levi felt a throbbing vein in his temple, but Petra just smiled, disregarding those remarks. Levi grabbed a can of beer and opened it.

"I didn't know you were quite popular", he said, taking a long sip. Petra nodded in embarrassment. "It must be very tiring, having all that attention". He thought of Erwin. He had enough with just one person orbiting around him all day.

"A little bit" she recognized. "But it's more tiring when you don’t get the attention of that certain someone you like". Levi pretended not to hear and took another sip of beer.

Levi had planned to drink a couple of beers and then leave. But every time he attempted to go, Erwin dragged him back to the party again. Only after several rounds of sake, two hours of karaoke, and endless cans of beer, the party was finally over and Levi could go home. He tolerated alcohol quite well and did not get drunk easily. But he couldn't say the same for his co-workers, many of them barely standing on their feet. Petra was unwell too, her face was pink and she walked erratically as the group headed towards the train station. Erwin wrapped an arm around Levi's shoulders and said:

"You should go with her", Levi frowned.

"What? Why me??"

"Because you are a good person and, if you don't, these guys will probably assault her"

Levi looked at the group of guys swarming around Petra. It was the same group as before. They talked to her and tried to get closer, but she was evidently uncomfortable and walked faster.

"And why don't you do it?", asked Levi. He had no intention of getting involved in other people's problems.

"Because she won't come with me, but she will definitely go with you". Levi groaned. He might be right.

He stepped forward towards the group, stood into the stalkers' way, and dispatched them away with a deadly look. Petra was startled when she saw him next to her.

"Petra, where do you live?", Levi asked, trying to sound casual. She blushed, and Levi knew it was not the alcohol.

"Mmm… in Ueno". It was near his apartment.

“Great. I’ll take you there”.

They traveled in silence, sitting next to each other on the subway. It was already past midnight and they had probably caught the last train home. There were not many people on the train, except for a young girl sitting across them. She had dark short hair and very pale skin. Levi thought she could have been a punk or a goth during her teenage years. He kept staring at that girl until he saw a keychain hanging from her bag. It was a figure of Eren Jeager, the main character of God of Titans. Levi blinked repeatedly, surprised.

At that moment, Petra’s head landed slowly on his shoulder. She had fallen asleep. Levi gave a startle, feeling a little awkward at the sudden closeness but preferred not to wake her up. And when he looked up again, the girl across him was looking back at them. Her eyes were very dark and stared intensely. Levi folded his arms, further uncomfortable. 

“What are you looking at?”, he mumbled at the girl. She was not remotely intimidated by him. Her face was inscrutable.

“You look good together”, she said in a soft voice. Levi nearly choked. 

“She’s just a colleague”, he clarified.

“Oh, I see”. 

At that moment, the train stopped in a station. The other girl stood up and got out of the wagon. And from the platform, she waved goodbye. Levi frowned, thinking she was a strange girl, but waved goodbye anyway.

“I’m sorry, Levi. I’m really sorry!” Petra apologized several times, bowing desperately to him. “You walked me home and I just fell asleep. I’m really sorry!” 

They had already left Ueno Station and were saying goodbye, for they lived in opposite directions.

“Don’t worry about it. I usually take this way home”. It was a lie, he still had to walk about thirty minutes to get home. But he didn't want her to feel any more guilty. “Well, I guess I see you on Monday”.

She smiled: “Yes! See you on Monday”. 

He walked alone through that night. Winter was coming to an end but he still felt cold, so he walked faster to warm himself up. His thoughts began to wander. Petra was a good girl. She was pretty, reliable, and kind. No wonder why she was so popular. But. As much as he thought about it, he had no feelings for her. Maybe Erwin was right and he was too picky. But he wasn't going to lie to himself and to someone else just for the sake of not being alone. He was comfortable that way.

_Alone._

His apartment was empty as always, only the blue shadows of the furniture greeted him at night. He plopped down on the sofa and saw a light flashing on his console. He had a notification. 

**[30/03 - 00:25am] xXxMikasaxXx:** hey.

He smiled faintly. It was her again.

**[30/03 - 00:26am] Ackerman_87:** hey. I just got home.

He frowned at his own message. Why did he even write that? The pixels swirled before his eyes. Maybe he wasn’t as alcohol-tolerant as he thought he was. He was about to turn off his console, before he typed something stupid again, when the girl answered: 

**[30/03 - 00:28am] xXxMikasaxXx:** me too.

 **[30/03 - 00:28am] xXxMikasaxXx:** where were you?

Levi blinked at her message. He wasn’t much of making friends, but for some reason, he didn’t mind if those messages were getting more and more personal.

**[30/03 - 00:31am] Ackerman_87:** just had a drinking party with my office colleagues

 **[30/03 - 00:33am] xXxMikasaxXx:** oh. sounds like fun.

 **[30/03 - 00:35am] Ackerman_87:** it’s not as funny as you might think.

 **[30/03 - 00:36am] Ackerman_87:** you’ll see when you start working.

 **[30/03 - 00:41am] xXxMikasaxXx:** by the way, I will start working on Monday.

 **[30/03 - 00:43am] Ackerman_87:** did you just graduate? in my company the new graduates start in April.

 **[30/03 - 00:44am] xXxMikasaxXx:** yes.

 **[30/03 - 00:46am] Ackerman_87:** good luck, then.

 **[30/03 - 00:46am] Ackerman_87:** guess we won’t have much time for gaming later. 

**[30/03 - 00:48am] xXxMikasaxXx:** i guess so.

 **[30/03 - 00:50am] xXxMikasaxXx:** let’s play now that we still can.

He chuckled, forgetting he was drunk and tired and logged into the game.

* * *

“I made sure to not bother you this weekend and you still come to work with those dark circles under your eyes, my God!” complained Erwin next Monday. Levi was sitting at his desk and deadpanned at him.

“This is my face, you know”

“You probably stayed up late playing every day…”

“Oi…”

“Well anyway…”, said Erwin, changing the topic. He casually leaned on Levi’s cubicle, so that only he could listen. But there was no use for that, for there were not many people in the office at that moment. It was still early, but Levi always arrived ahead of schedule to tidy up and clean his desk. “Guess who is going to be in charge of the new recruits?”, asked Erwin with a grin.

“Please don’t tell it's going to be me”, asked Levi, opening his laptop. Erwin’s enthusiasm disappeared once again.

“Well, yes, it’s going to be you actually”, he recognized, and Levi clenched his teeth as he glared at him to death. “I personally recommended you”, Levi would have punched his friend, but only snorted.

“And why would you do that?”.

“Because I trust you and I think you do a great job”, he recognized. Levi glanced at him sideways and folded his arms. As if he didn't have enough work to do, he will be responsible for the new recruits. They definitely did not pay him enough for that. He closed his eyes for a moment and then he sighed.

“Okay. It’s not as if I can refuse anyway. Just bring them here and I will assign them a cubicle.”

Erwin patted him on the shoulder: “I knew I could count on you”.

Levi felt bitter, but on second thought, maybe being someone’s superior had some benefits. Maybe he could do like Erwin and pass some of his work on to his subordinates. And then, he’d have less work to do and could get home sooner. He’d have more time for his hobbies, to play on his console, and talk to her.

Why was he thinking of her again?

He opened his mail and a long list of unread messages unfolded. He sighed. Yet again, another dull Monday. Suddenly he heard several footsteps behind him, as if a group was approaching.

“Well, here you have it”, said Erwin’s voice. “This is Levi Ackerman. He works at the software engineering apartment and you will be under his supervision. And wow, we even have another Ackerman in here. Aren’t you relatives or something?”. Levi turned around so fast he thought his neck was going to break. Erwin was surrounded by a group of five, three men and two women, dressed in the classic office dress code. 

And suddenly.

He saw her. 

Dark short hair, very pale skin. As if she could have been a punk or a goth during her teenage years. And her eyes were very dark and stared back at him, intensely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! I hope you liked this new chapter💞💞💞. I wrote this like two times because I was never sure of the phrasing and how the plot was evolving. I still have some doubts, so tell me what do you think! ahah. Thanks for reading even though I'm not a native english speaker TT___TT i know the writing might be weird sometimes, if something feels odd please tell mee. Thank you all for your comments and kudos. I really appreciate it💞


	3. New girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this chapter took longer than expected TT__TT I try to update every week or every ten days, but I didn't know how to finish this chapter (and also, work, and life) so here is an extra longer chapter! My chapters are usually 3k words long and this is almost 5k idk what happened. 
> 
> This chapter was beta-read by @Naktergalen and I'm very very very very grateful to have another pair of eyes to help me out! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I really appreciate it and I can't express it enough with words. And yeah, I just learnt that I'm a mess and I always write the wrong pronouns lol. If you find more mistakes somewhere else please tell me, I'm very open about this!! :-)
> 
> and yeah, without further ado, here's the new chapter ❤️

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to work here?"

Levi was still in disbelief. It was already noon and he couldn't get any of his work done. Erwin had introduced the new recruits to Levi and he received them with a blank face and a light bow (while he was sweating profusely under his suit). There she was: Mikasa Ackerman. The girl he had been playing video games with. She was now his coworker. And not only that. He was now her superior.

_It must be a joke._

The five new recruits were classmates from the same university that graduated at the same time. Those were: Jean, a tall boy with a funny attempt at a beard on his face, Armin, a slightly short boy of bright blond hair, Sasha, a lively girl with a ponytail, Connie, a short boy too young to have so little hair, and, of course, Mikasa, with her dark, dull eyes. Levi guided the new group through the engineering department and allocated them in a space of empty cubicles not very far from his own, leaving them some paperwork to do. If Mikasa noticed who he was, she didn’t let it show. She carried out her tasks diligently and didn't look at him once. Meanwhile, Levi spent the entire morning stealing quick glances of her, as he hid behind his computer. Which resulted in him not working at all.

During lunchtime, he approached her, as she was buying canned tea at the vending machines. She was so unbelievably tall it made him feel ridiculous. Levi was of average height for an average Japanese man, and he never really thought too much about it. There were people taller and smaller than him. It made no difference. Except for today, as he approached her casually in the hallway and felt the difference in those fourteen centimeters.

Mikasa picked her tea and looked at him as if she was seeing Levi for the first time.

“I… didn’t know you worked here, sir,” she mumbled, immediately lowering her gaze, and Levi rolled his eyes. Of course. _Sir_. He was her superior at the office. “Besides… I didn’t know that you were… _you_ …” she added, looking at her feet and tapping her fingers on the canned tea.

Levi snorted: “What? Did you think I was a creep?”. She blushed slightly.

“Well… you never know,” Levi folded his arms and leaned against the vending machine.

“Then, next time don’t give your full name to some stranger on the internet, “ she blushed further and almost drop her tea.

“I guess you are right,” She recognized.

An awkward silence hung over them. Levi didn’t really have something to tell her. But he wanted to speak with her. She was the girl with amazing skills at God of Titans after all.

"Is it… a problem for you?" She asked suddenly, her gaze still fixed on the floor and her hands protecting her tea, as if Levi would take it away from her at any moment. He opened his eyes widely, as he wasn't expecting that question.

"Why would it be a problem?". She pressed her lips together.

"Because… I don't know… you seem stressed…", she mumbled again. And Levi only chuckled.

"That is my daily mood at the office."

At that moment, he felt an arm wrapping his shoulders, and someone leaning his weight over him. It was Erwin of course. Who else.

"Dear Lady, is this old man molesting you?" He asked Mikasa. And Levi would have punched his friend, but he restrained himself.

Mikasa's face was completely bright red now. “No… no at all…”, she mumbled.

“Mikasa!” Sasha called her out. “We are going to grab some lunch, do you come with us?”

_Saved by the bell._

Mikasa excused herself with a little bow and joined her colleagues. Levi glanced at Erwin out of the corner of his eye. He was grinning widely.

“So… are you into this new girl?" he asked. Levi clicked his tongue and tried to break free from Erwin's grip, but it was in vain.

“I was just asking her something about work," he mumbled.

“Yeah… work," he said not convinced at all. "That is why you were casually leaning against the vending machine trying to act cool", he said with derision. Levi felt a vein throbbing in his temple.

“I wasn’t trying to act cool," he stated as he tried to get rid of Erwin for once.

But Erwin changed the topic completely: “By the way, what happened last Friday?” Levi raised an eyebrow because he didn't quite remember what he did last Friday.

“What thing?"

“With Petra, of course” _ah, that thing._

"I just walked her home as you told me."

"Just that?" Erwin sounded disappointed and Levi frowned at his friend's reply.

"What should have happened according to you?"

"You tell me. You are two single adults after all," yet again that annoying grin. He wondered why Erwin was so committed to get him a girlfriend instead of finding one for himself.

"She was drunk, you know…" Erwin's smile disappeared and he nodded.

"Mmm okay…I'll buy that."

"And I'm not interested in Petra," he added.

"And in this new girl?" He grinned and Levi rolled his eyes.

"I've only known her for 4 hours," he lied. _Or was it true?_

"And?" Levi looked daggers at him.

"Just leave me alone," he said, this time removing Erwin's arm from his shoulder. "I want to eat something."

He turned on his heels and walked away, but Erwin called him out.

"By the way," Levi turned slightly and looked at him over his shoulder "We are having another drinking party this Friday!" Erwin said with a broad smile.

Levi felt his stomach twisting: "Another??"

"Yes, we have to welcome the new recruits! So as their supervisor I expect you to be there", he walked towards Levi and patted him in the shoulder. Levi stared at him to death.

"You are annoying", he only managed to say.

Erwin shrugged: "Well, that's what friends are for"

* * *

The rest of the day went on smoothly. Levi managed to put himself together and replied to all his unread mail. That morning he requested the new recruits to read some reports and then write a summary, so after lunch he approached their cubicles to supervise their work. Mikasa didn't seem to notice he was there at all, and Levi also acted as he didn't know her. Everyone's work was great, except for Sasha's, who had to rewrite her summary again.

"I guess you are done for today", said Levi leafing through their work. "During this week I will assign you to different projects, so it would be great if you read each other's summaries to get an idea of what we are working on". Everyone nodded in agreement and he went back to his desk.

He looked at his wristwatch. It was 5pm and he didn't have much more left work to do. He guessed that having subordinates wasn't a bad idea at all. However, he still had to allocate the new group in other projects according to their abilities. He started to look at his documents when he saw Mikasa approaching his desk out of the corner of his eye.

But she didn't reach him, because at that moment Petra appeared in his visual range first.

"Hey, Levi! I hope you are doing great," she said with a bright smile. But he wasn't paying attention, as he saw how Mikasa froze midway and turned on her heels, walking away. "I brought you something," she gave him a bottle of warm black tea. "I wanted to thank you for walking me home last Friday," she said with a light blush on her cheeks. "Someone told me this was your favorite tea. It's not too much, but I hope it gives you energy to keep up with your work". Levi grabbed the bottle in his hand and then looked at the girl. She was evidently nervous.

"Thank you, Petra," He said. "It's indeed my favorite."

"Ah, that's good to know!" She celebrated clapping her hands together. "And also, I was wondering if you'll go to this Friday's party", she asked rather shyly. Levi scratched his head.

"Well, I guess I don't have another option. It's the welcome party of the new recruits and I'm their supervisor", Petra smiled again.

“I promise I’ll behave, and I won’t drink too much”, she said and then added: “See you there, then, Levi”, and waved goodbye to him.

Levi gave a long, tired sigh. And then looked at the cubicles of the new recruits. Mikasa wanted to tell him something. But. She was not there anymore. There was only Sasha writing desperately to get her work done, and the three other boys were arranging their belongings, planning to leave.

He walked towards them, and asked, trying to sound as casual as he could: “Where is… Mikasa?”

Jean frowned at him, but Armin replied: “She just left for home, sir. You said we were good to leave, right?”

“Yes, yes. You may leave. I just wanted to… ask her something”, he mumbled, hoping to sound convincing.

At least Jean was not convinced. Levi raised an eyebrow, wondering what was wrong with him.

* * *

He got home at seven that day. A very early time for what he was used to. It was already dark, though. The days didn’t last for long during Winter. But Winter was coming to its end, April had already begun, and soon the streets would be full of cherry blossoms. But for the moment, only the white noise and blue shadows of his apartment greeted him back.

He took off his shoes, loosened his tie and hung his jacket, before he plopped down on the sofa. He didn’t bother to turn on the lights. The curtains in his living room were very thin and the light from outside illuminated the room sufficiently. There, he laid in the darkness.

He felt odd. He sure had gone through a lot that day. He met that girl: Mikasa, and he hadn’t planned it. It hadn’t even crossed his mind to meet her yet. They were just internet acquaintances. They played a lot together because they were at the same level. It was like a friendly rivalry. And Levi liked it that way. He had never known someone as skilled as he was, and it pushed him to improve his game. But now it was different. Now they were trapped in the hierarchy of real life, in the duties of real life. He sighed. He didn’t want to be her superior. He had thought that, when they met, they could be friends -okay, maybe he _did_ think about meeting her-, but everything was awkward now. 

He logged on the console, and he casually clicked on his Friend List. It looked rather miserable because Mikasa was his only friend, but he was not used to making friends on the internet. He might be too old for that. She was an exception. His stomach cringed at his own thoughts.

**xXxMikasaxXx is now playing God of Titans**

So she was online. She went home from the office straight to play videogames. Just as he did. He chuckled slightly at the thought of her, still wearing her office clothes, legs crossed in front of the TV.

He typed not thinking too much about it.

 **[01/03-19:16] Ackerman_87:** You left early today…

She replied a couple of minutes later.

 **[01/03-19:20] xXxMikasaxXx** : You are my superior only during office hours...

He clicked his tongue.

 **[01/03-19:21] Ackerman_87:** I’m not scolding you

 **[01/03-19:23] xXxMikasaxXx:** Then what is this.

He didn't know what to reply. How was this supposed to be their relationship now? He cringed again at the word _relationship_. Did they even have a relationship at all beyond that friendly virtual rivalry? He guessed they didn't. Maybe it was for the best if they kept on pretending they didn't know each other at the office, but kept on playing online, not bring work issues on the game as he just did.

 **[01/03-19:27] Ackerman_87:** I shouldn't have talked about work, sorry.

 **[01/03-19:28] Ackerman_87:** do you want to play?

She took some time before replying.

 **[01/03-19:35] xXxMikasaxXx:** okay.

* * *

It was like an unspoken agreement. They acted as if they didn't know each other at the office, and they didn't talk about work in the game. It's not as if they talked a lot during their gaming sessions. But it was better that way. It was less awkward. Though it was also awkward for Levi to split his personality in two. But he didn't know if there was another way out. He didn't want to make Mikasa uncomfortable with the hierarchical relations outside the office, and he also didn't want the rest to find out they already knew each other through a game. Especially Erwin. Definitely, he didn't want Erwin to know.

Mikasa was a good worker. She understood the assignments well and he didn't have to ask her multiple times how her work was doing (as he had to do with Connie and Sasha). Levi allocated her in a project, and she familiarized really fast with the team and their tasks. She was also very intelligent and hard-working. And he couldn’t help but stare at her longer than it was necessary from behind his computer.

Soon it was Friday already and Levi knew what was coming, but it didn’t make him any less annoyed.

“It’s Friday!!” shouted Erwin exuding enthusiasm. Levi wondered how he could keep his energy during the week because on Friday evenings he always just wanted to drop dead. “We’ll meet at the regular Izakaya. I already booked a room there!”.

Levi sighed. He couldn’t run from Erwin this time (not that he was successful the other time), for it was the new recruit’s welcome and he was under their care. He just hoped it didn’t make Mikasa uncomfortable.

The new group left first because they had already completed their work. Levi still had to finish writing some reports, so he sent them off and stayed at the office for a bit. He would rather let the new recruits have some fun without him, he didn’t want them -especially Mikasa- to think he was monitoring them. It was his work, though. But not outside the office and during informal meetings, such as in a drinking party. But it was difficult to isolate formal from informal spaces. After all, he had been navigating all this week between his work-self and his gaming-self with Mikasa. It was difficult indeed. And tiring.

Erwin’s voice interrupted his train of thoughts: “What are you still doing here, Levi?? Are you trying to skip the party?”

“I was finishing some work, you moron.”

But Erwin dragged Levi to the party without hearing his complaints.

The usual Izakaya was a bar a couple of blocks away from their office, so they arrived there rather quickly. They went to the booked room and found everyone in pretty high spirits. The room was packed, and the new recruits were all sitting together, with several empty beers at the table and drinking little cups of sake. Apparently, Jean, Sasha, and Connie had drank too much, for they were nearly shouting at each other. Meanwhile, Armin and Mikasa were quietly drinking beer at their side.

“LEVI!!” shouted Sasha when she saw him coming “LEVI! Sir, have a seat with us”.

Erwin nearly pushed him to go.

“Okay, just for a bit,” said Levi sitting at their table and receiving a beer from Connie. “Thank you.”

“Sir, you have been so kind to me this first week, even though I screwed it up a lot,” said Sasha almost on the verge of tears. Definitely she had drank too much. Levi took a sip of beer in silence. Although it was true that she made a lot of mistakes. “I wish I could be as smart as Mikasa is,” she added, looking at her colleague with bright eyes.

Mikasa blinked repeatedly at her mention.

“She graduated at the top of our class,” Armin continued and Mikasa blushed slightly. “But you’ll never guess she runs home to play all evening on her console”.

“Armin!” she protested, but her friend only grinned.

“Mikasa was really popular at college,” said Sasha and Mikasa was only getting more and more red. “All the boys would try to ask her out, but she was always too busy gaming.“

“Even Jean here tried to ask her out,” commented Connie, and this time Jean was all red.

“CONNIE!" he yelled.

Levi looked at them without knowing what to say. Though it was relevant information after all. _So Jean liked Mikasa when they were in college..._

Suddenly, he felt someone sitting by his side. It was Erwin, joining their conversation. “Ooh, so also play video games, Mikasa?" He asked with intended curiosity. Levi narrowed his eyes. Why did he always have to stick his nose everywhere?

“You play video games, sir?" asked Mikasa in a soft voice.

“Not me, but this guy over here does," he said, placing his arm around Levi's shoulder. And Levi wanted to punch him for real this time.

Sasha, Connie, and Jean almost spit their beer.

"What??? You don't look like a gamer at all, sir," said Connie.

"Neither does Mikasa," stated Levi, trying to not make eye contact with the young woman.

"Ooh, you both are very look-alike," commented Armin.

"Are you sure you're not relatives?" Erwin insisted. Levi looked at him with a grim face.

"I don't think so," he replied, taking a gulp of his beer.

"Maybe it's Mikasa's opportunity to get a boyfriend as crazy as she is for gaming," commented Sasha, too shamelessly for her own good. Levi almost spat his beer this time. And Mikasa looked as if she wanted to merge with the wall and disappear.

"Well, it's not that I have a lot of time to play lately," he lied.

"You liar," said Erwin, narrowing his eyes. "You also go straight to your house to play video games until it's like 3am."

"Oooh so you are truly two of a kind," said Connie in a drunk speech and Levi wished that the conversation was over.

At that moment, Petra appeared out of the crowd and sat beside him, also joining their conversation. 

"Hey, Levi. Hey Erwin," she smiled. "So these are the new recruits from the engineering department?"

"Nice to meet you, prrreeetty ladyyy," slurred Connie and Sasha slapped him.

"Get yourself together, idiot."

But Petra only smiled with nostalgia. "How nice to be young,". Levi raised an eyebrow.

"Oi. You speak like we all are old people here," he said.

Armin was curious: "How old are you, sir?" He asked as he tilted his head. Levi sighed.

"We all are thirty-one here". Connie opened his eyes widely.

"Reallyyyy I wouldn't tell, especially for Levi, he's too short."

Levi frowned at him. Connie was sure too drunk for his own good. "You are not any taller than me," the superior said.

Jean chuckled at his side. "Thirty-one and still playing video games, sir?" He said with derision and Levi felt again that particular vein throbbing in his temple. If this wasn't their welcome party and they weren't as drunk as they were now, he would have definitely made them pay.

Petra stared at Levi for a brief moment, before asking: "Do you play video games, Levi?". _Shit, he forgot not many people knew about this._

"What? She didn't know?" Armin asked. _This is all Erwin's fault._

"Well, it's not something that I tell everyone, but yeah, in my free time I play video games," he recognized taking another sip of beer.

At that moment, attention was diverted by Connie who wanted to open another bottle of sake, and Sasha who wanted to stop him. They were making a fuss about it and Petra seized that moment to ask Levi in a slightly lower tone:

"Levi, can I speak to you in private?" Levi raised an eyebrow again.

"Okay," he said, wondering what Petra would want with him.

They both stood and walked into a corner a bit away from the rest. Erwin observed with a wide grin, and Levi could almost swear he saw Mikasa taking a glimpse of him.

Levi leaned against the wall, waiting for Petra to speak, and she looked rather shy before she said: "Levi, ummm, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Zoo with me tomorrow. I have two extra tickets," she looked down and tucked a lock of hair under her ear.

She sure was pretty and all. She had bright hair and smooth skin, and she always wore a smile in her face… but Levi couldn't think of anything more boring than spending his Saturday at the Zoo. But of course he couldn't say that to Petra. He was pondering what excuse to tell her, when he saw Erwin at the distance giving him thumbs up as if he was saying "TELL HER YES" and Levi wondered when they were all going to leave him alone.

He thought about it for another minute, and it might be the beer, or the fact that he didn't want to hurt Petra, that he said: "Well, okay, I guess".

Petra could have jumped in joy. "Great!! Then, I'll see you tomorrow at 9am at the station," she said, and Levi regretted it immediately. That was too early for a free Saturday.

He came back to the table with the new recruits and sat beside Mikasa. Connie and Sasha had stopped fighting and were dozing off with their heads all over the table, and Jean was also sleeping but leaning against the wall. Armin was looking at his phone, and that left Mikasa and Levi staring awkwardly at opposite sides.

Mikasa spoke first: "I didn't know you were popular with women, sir,” she said in a deadpan voice.

He looked at her by the corner of his eye, but he could not read her expression. He wasn't expecting her to say something like that. What did it have to do with anything anyway? He opened another beer and drank a sip. "It's not something I'm really aware of," he said. And it was the truth.

"I've heard a lot about you this week," Levi almost spit what he had just drank.

"What thing? For example."

"You are very popular. All the girls do is talk about you," he arched an eyebrow. That information was brand new for him, was she teasing him? He couldn’t recognize in what tone she was speaking at all, but a part of him wanted to believe she was slightly irritated.

"I… I didn't know to be honest," he mumbled and took another sip of beer. "And I don't care either."

Mikasa narrowed her eyes, not convinced at all: "Ooh, so you are the cool I-don’t-care-what-people-say type," She said almost with derision.

He didn't know where that conversation was going, but it was starting to get really annoying: "I'm not anything. Petra just asked me to hang out, that's everything," and then he added in a lower tone: "as I hang with you in God of Titans."

Mikasa gave a startle and looked around to see if someone heard them, but everyone was either sleeping or minding their own business. "That's… different," she mumbled. "That is not the real world".

Levi tilted his head. "It is not?"

She did not answer. Instead, she just lowered her eyes and asked: "And… what did you tell her?"

Levi was surprised she was interested in him, for she had basically ignored him that whole week. At least she was not angry that he brought the gaming topic in their _real life_. Levi clicked his tongue. What did real life mean after all. "I said yes," he said, resting his chin in one hand, as a gesture of boredom. "But because I didn't want to hurt her feelings."

"But you are making her think something else," she mumbled. Levi looked at her, but she was staring somewhere else. She was really hard to read.

"What thing?" he asked, with genuine curiosity. Mikasa shook her head.

"You are very dense, uh?" Levi didn't know what she wanted to say, but felt pretty offended at her words.

"Is that how you talk to your superior?" Mikasa clicked her tongue and drank a sip of beer. She thought for a moment before replying:

"I told you that you were my superior only during office hours."

He half-smiled, but she didn’t smile back. "If I'm too dense, then you are too squared-minded."

* * *

The Izakaya closed at 12am and they -Erwin, Levi and the new recruits- were the last to leave. It was very cold for early April, and Levi forgot his gloves at the office, so he walked with his hands in his pocket. Mikasa took a red scarf out of her bag and tucked half of her face behind it. They walked to the train station in a silence partly interrupted by Sasha and Connie babbling about how drunk they were. Levi couldn't be mad at them. They were funny in their own way.

At Roppongi station, they all waved good-bye.

"I took the Hibiya line," said Levi to the group.

"Ooh so does Mikasa," slurred Sasha. "So you are really two of a kind."

"It's just a train line," mumbled Mikasa, again, slightly irritated.

They walked to the platform in silence and waited for the train. Levi wasn't the guy to fill the awkward silences with small talk, but for some reason, the silence between him and Mikasa made him nervous. She didn't speak either, so they both got in the train and sat beside each other without saying a word.

At that moment, he saw a keychain hanging from her bag. It was a small figure of Eren Jeager, the main character of God of Titans. Then, he remembered he'd seen that keychain before. And then, he realized that he'd also seen Mikasa before.

"I… saw you… last Friday," he mumbled, more to himself than to Mikasa. "I saw you on this train. You had this keychain with you."

She looked at him by the corner of her eye. "I thought you knew…".

He snorted. "How should I have known?" And she blushed slightly.

"Because I knew."

He shook his head, trying not to read too much into her words. "I have a very bad memory."

"You were with that girl… Petra," she continued, and Levi looked at her with surprise. She sure was attentive.

"Yes, but it's not what you think. I only walked her home," he clarified.

"I wasn't thinking about anything," she mumbled, and she was right. Why was he even giving her excuses?

They didn't speak for a few minutes. It was a long journey after all. He was grateful that the train was heated and that he didn’t have to walk down the streets as he did last week. The screeching sound of the train and the metallic voice announcing the stations was all they could heard. Then, he remembered that last week, Mikasa got off a couple of stations before him.

"Where do you get off the train?", this time, he was the first to break the silence. Mikasa answered with half of her face behind her scarf.

"In Akihabara. I take a transfer there". There were two stations more to go.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow… at the game," he added, trying to sound casual.

"I guess so. Have fun on your date with Petra," she said, in the same casual tone. Was she mocking him again?

Levi clicked his tongue. "It's not a date," he protested. And Mikasa stared at him. It was a long, dark glance.

"Probably she thinks something different", she said and stood to get off the train.

Levi turned around and saw her walking away on the platform. He stared at her for a long moment and he didn’t know why, but he wished she would turn around to see him. And suddenly, at that moment, she looked over her shoulder. And Levi felt something fluttering inside his stomach.

She waved good-bye at him slightly.

And he waved her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you a lot for all the comments I've received the past weeks, they make me really happy and are my source of serotonin during these difficult times of pandemic TT__TT I hope this silly story is also a distraction for you in these uncertain times :)
> 
> See you next week ❤️❤️❤️


	4. (Inside the new girl's head)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I wrote this chapter really fast in my opinion lol guess I'm excited with this plot (what plot?)
> 
> I don't like to change POVs once I started writing but I must admit that I was too lazy to write about Levi's date, so I changed to Mikasa's POV lol. It turned out quite well (i guess?), well you can tell me ahah.
> 
> This was again beta read by Nak @Naktergalen who corrected my lack of vocabulary (I wrote "mumble" like 20 times here why am I like this) and various misspellings. It's so nice having someone reading your work I can only say thank youuuu TT__TT ❤️❤️❤️

* * *

Mikasa woke up that Saturday in her tiny studio apartment. The morning lights peeked through her cheap curtains as she hid her head behind the pillow. It was still too early for her, and she wanted to sleep a little more…, unfortunately, she was awake already. She sat up in bed, rubbed her tired eyes and looked around her, not amused at what lay ahead: an entire day cleaning up the mess that was her apartment.

The leftovers from last night's dinner were on a little low table in front of the TV: a cup of instant noodles and a bag of chips. The sink was packed with dirty dishes from god-only-knows-how-many-days ago and empty bottles were spread all over the floor. She was not proud of her mess. But it was her first week at her first job and she wanted to make a good impression on the company, so she had worked her ass off the whole week long with that objective in mind. She didn't have time for anything else.

(Although she allowed herself to play God of Titans for a couple of hours after work in exchange for a few hours of sleep. She was still young, and she could still stand on her feet the next day with only three hours of sleep.)

Mikasa has played God of Titans since she was in high school. During those years she was obsessed with the main character of the video game: Eren Jeager. Her room at her parents’ house was wrapped with posters of his face and she used to buy every possible merchandise of the game, from pillows to T-shirts to toothpaste. At times it was embarrassing to admit it, but she was truly in love with Eren back then. Her parents thought she was just going through a phase and they were right, in part. As a 21-year-old young woman, Mikasa was not that madly dedicated to a non-existing character anymore and she only had _one_ poster of Eren at her adult apartment. But she still played God of Titans. It was part of her story and who she was. Why would she give up on playing video games and pretend to be someone else just to please everybody around her? It was that way during her college years and her friends seemed to be okay with her hobbies (even though they teased her from time to time and nagged her for not being more social). And apparently it was going to be okay in this new stage of adulthood called work. 

_Her supervisor at work played too._

That thought crossed her mind as she stared lazily at the ceiling, gathering strength to crawl out of bed. She met him through the game, before she could ever know they were going to bump into each other in their real lives. Curiosity got the better of her when she saw her last name in someone else's username. 

**Ackerman_87**

She had seen him before. He used a male avatar with black short hair, mastered the vertical maneuvering equipment skillfully and was always at the top of the charts. Too high at the number one spot for anyone to even compete with him. Ackerman_87 was well known in the GT community. Everyone talked about him in all the virtual forums Mikasa visited, about his techniques, his game strategy, and how he was a complete mystery. He had no digital footprint on the internet other than his account in God of Titans and never participated in GT’s events. He never accepted anyone in his friend list either. It was a well known fact, so all the other players never tried to get too close, and just admired him from afar. Some said it was someone famous trying to hide his true identity, others said he was just an old man embarrassed to be caught playing video games.

And it might be.

Or it might not.

Mikasa was _too_ curious to not try to reach him. She was a pretty decent player herself, more than decent in fact. After all, she was the top #2 player at the game. It was only natural they became interested in each other (was it?). They had played together in the online mode a couple of times before and those were the best games Mikasa had ever played. His game play was really unique, and it encouraged her to improve her gaming skills. 

So she sent him a message. 

Mikasa spent almost that whole evening and night with her nose glued to the TV screen, waiting for a reply. It took some time. 

But it came.

Mikasa almost spat her drink out when she saw that he replied back to her. She had not read of anyone receiving a message from this almost legendary player from God of Titans. But she did. She rushed to reply back to him and they started an awkward but nice conversation. 

It felt like the start of something.

Mikasa didn’t know what it was. But she liked whatever it was. 

They chatted from time to time and arranged meetings to play together. He was not very active as she would have expected. He said something about his work that didn't allow him to play as much as he wanted. But even when he didn’t play all day long, no one could surpass his statistics. On the other hand, Mikasa had plenty of free time for a couple of days. She had just finished university and was recruited by a company to start working in April. She had nothing to do during that last week of February. So she stayed up day and night playing to improve her gaming skills. She spent all those sleepless nights, sitting in front of the TV screen, in pajamas, legs crossed, her bed a jumble of sheets and many cups of instant noodles stacking up on her little table.

Sadly, she couldn’t afford that lifestyle anymore. Now she was an office worker and she only wanted to sleep as soon as she got home at night. 

Out of habit, she woke up with the sun.

Mikasa did the laundry, took out the trash and vacuumed her apartment. It wasn’t too hard to keep it clean, but life sometimes spiraled out of control. She almost tripped when she picked her shoes from the floor; her head began to stir and a piercing pain shot through her temple. Only then, she remembered what she did last night.

They had a welcoming drinking party at the office and she drank a lot of beer. She didn’t like parties nor social gatherings very much, but her friends (mostly Sasha and Connie) cornered Mikasa one day at the office and made it very clear that she _had_ to go. It was _their_ welcoming party. She just rolled her eyes and guessed that it wasn’t that bad to go out once in a while. 

Actually, it wasn’t bad. She had fun, unexpectedly. It might be because she drank more than she is used to. Or because Sasha and Connie were quite a duo. Or because she got to talk a little with _him._

With Ackerman_87.

With Levi Ackerman.

Who happens to be now her supervisor. 

She tried to keep her cool the day they were introduced as superior and subordinate at her new company, when in actuality all her insides were twisting behind her stony expression. She had been playing God of Titan with him the whole past week and now they were standing there face to face, tossed in the real world.

She would have never guessed this person was in fact Ackerman_87. His virtual self was surrounded by this halo of mystery that absorbed Mikasa’s attention. Even though she saw no face and heard no voice; she just read the pixels that composed his messages spreading in the white chat box instead. It was enough to keep her committed to their gaming sessions. They didn’t ask too much about their lives, just tiny bits of what they did for a living. Mikasa didn’t know much about socializing, but she knew she shouldn’t get too intimate with someone you meet on the internet. You never know who may be on the other side of the screen. She’d heard stories about her friends encountering creepy old men they met on dating apps. So she never told any personal information to this Ackerman_87.

Little did she know he was closer than she expected. 

(And she thanked in her innermost thoughts that he was no creep)

(For now)

He was popular not only in the game but also at the office. Every day when she arrived at the dressing rooms, all the girls were talking about Levi Ackerman. She changed her shoes and put her bag in her locker hearing all the gossip around him. 

One of those girls approached her and Sasha one day: “You are so lucky to be paired with Mr. Ackerman!” she said with a yearning voice.

Mikasa raised an eyebrow, but Sasha could only complain: “What luck are you talking about, all I do is work all day under his surveillance!”

But Levi appeared unaware of his popularity, which only made it bigger. He would spend all day behind his computer, not talking to anyone, except maybe, Erwin Smith, the head of the department. But it mostly seemed like a one-sided relationship. And Levi treated Mikasa no different.

(Except that time when he asked her why she didn’t tell him they were going to work in the same company. How was she supposed to know in the first place?? She wasn’t going to reveal that to a stranger on the internet, even if it was the greatest gamer alive in God of Titans. He could still be a creep.)

She hung her bed sheets on her balcony. The skies were clear and the sun shone, but it was still a cold day of April and there were little chances that her laundry would be dry by the end of the day. But she would wait and see.

And play a game in the meantime. 

She sat in front of the TV, legs crossed, her back leaned against her headboard. Out of habit, she checked her friend list to see if Levi was online. But he wasn’t. Then she remembered why.

He had a date with Petra today.

(Even though he said it was no date)

(He lied)

(Or he didn’t want to admit it)

It was normal anyway. He had a life outside the game.

_Unlike me…_

Suddenly, Mikasa didn’t feel like playing anymore. She drew her legs to her chest and buried her head between her knees. She had noticed Petra during the week. She was the one who talked the most about Levi. About how she always liked him and how they were getting closer little by little - “ _he even walked me home last week!”_ she told her friends-. Mikasa was on that train with the two of them. Even though at that moment she didn’t know what she was witnessing. She only thought she saw a lovey-dovey couple, too shy to show their affection in public. Or at least it looked that way. Days after she started to connect the dots and everything fell into place.

She didn’t know why it made her feel vexed. It might be the fact that the best player at God of Titans had a life outside the game and even _dated_ people, meanwhile she was here, sinking in her solo-apartment, no friends, no visits. Although many people would say that it was her fault. She _did_ have friends and she _had_ been invited on dates in the past. But. She didn’t like to go out that much. She didn’t want to fit into the expectations of what a 21-year-old girl was supposed to be. 

Although she did feel like she was missing out on something. 

She raised her head and looked at the TV screen.

**Ackerman_87 is offline**

Or it might be the fact that he would rather be with someone else, than play with her. Her face turned a bright scarlet and her heart raced. Of course he preferred to be with someone else. He barely knew her. You know what. Screw it. He is the one missing out. She was going to play non-stop that whole weekend until she surpassed his stupid statistics again. 

Let's see who is number one now.

* * *

“Mikasa, why… is your skin… grey?” Sasha asked that next Monday. The two girls were putting their bags in their lockers and changing their outside shoes. 

Mikasa was so sleepy she could barely open her eyes. 

“What do you mean?” she asked Sasha. The other girl was a blurred object behind her weary eyes. “I’m in perfect shape.”

She was not, and the letters on her monitor danced before her eyes like little ants. She had barely slept four hours the last two days. But she achieved her goal: she was number one again. She smiled to herself as she printed out a report to read on paper because her eyes could no longer bear to stare at the artificial light. _Let’s see what Levi thinks about this._

But he didn’t say anything. He barely left his desk that morning -which Sasha thanked as she slacked around and watched random videos on the internet-. 

At that moment, someone approached her desk.

“Heyyy, Mikasa, good morning,” greeted Hanji, the head of the project Mikasa was assigned to. She was a very energetic and enthusiastic woman with a lot of creative ideas Mikasa couldn't always follow, but did her best to understand. They had met last Friday at their first formal meeting and Mikasa liked her right away. But she had the feeling she would make her work to death.

And maybe she was not that wrong.

“Good Morning, Ms. Zoe,” replied Mikasa, trying to focus her sight on her superior, without much success. 

Hanji noticed how Mikasa struggled to stay awake and tilted her head.

“Are you drunk, Mikasa?” 

She gave a startle and stood up from her chair. “No, not all. It’s just that… I’m very tired,” she added in a low voice. The apples of her cheeks turned a dusty pink out of embarrassment, though she was reluctant to admit it. It was her responsibility to get a good night’s sleep so that she could work in good condition the next day. But Hanji didn’t think too much about it, as she patted her shoulder gently and smiled at her.

“Go get a cup of coffee and then come to my desk. We are having a meeting in ten minutes”.

Mikasa did as she was told and went to the vending machines to buy herself some canned coffee. She stood in front of the dispenser looking for her purse when she heard a conversation.

“How was your date last Saturday, Petra?” said a female voice. Suddenly Mikasa wasn’t feeling sleepy anymore. She tried to make as little sound as possible as she put the coins into the machine and diverted all her concentration into her ears. 

“Mmm, it was well. I think” replied a second female voice. _That’s Petra_ , thought Mikasa, and selected a coffee. The voices were approaching from her back, and they stood behind Mikasa, waiting for her to finish her purchase.

“Was it that bad?”

“I don’t know. He looked bored. Like he didn’t want to be there at all.” Mikasa took as much time as possible to pick up her coffee from the dispenser.

“Maybe he did _not_ want to be there in the first place.”

“I don’t know what I did wrong…”

“Hey. Are you done yet?”

Mikasa gave a startle and mumbled an apology, as she walked away trying to go unnoticed.

“Tch. Those new recruits,” she could hear.

Mikasa’s heart was racing so fast that it might not be wise to drink that coffee, if she didn’t want to have a heart attack. _So the date went badly,_ she thought. She shook her head trying to keep all kinds of thoughts away. It was none of her business. None at all.

She left the canned coffee at her desk, as she felt she didn’t need it for the time being and headed towards Hanji’s desk. The entire floor belonged to the software engineering department and there were no private offices, just work spaces distributed in groups of cubicles, as the one Mikasa shared with her college friends. Mikasa liked that working style, for it was less structured and more open. But she also felt observed all the time.

(Or she _might be_ observed all the time).

She walked towards Hanji’s desk, trying to not look at anyone, her eyes fixed on the floor. 

But when she reached her work space.

There was Levi. 

They hadn't bumped into each other that day.

His hands were casually in his pocket, his locks of hair falling lazily over his eyes, and his lips were parted as if he had frozen in the middle of a sentence. Mikasa seemed to have interrupted a conversation between Levi and Hanji. He glanced sideways at the youngest Ackerman, and then looked again back at Hanji.

“I’ll email you the details, then,” he said sharply and turned on his heels, walking back to his desk.

Mikasa watched him leave. She still wasn’t used to the idea of Levi being a flesh and blood person, walking around in the world, and not some pixels behind the screen. He was shorter than she had imagined (did she imagine him at all?), but he had a built body with broad shoulders. Mikasa couldn’t help but _stare_.

“Don’t be intimidated by Levi,” Hanji said suddenly when she saw her and Mikasa startled. Her superior was smiling at her. “He’s just bad-tempered.”

“I’m not intimidated by him,” said Mikasa, trying to sound more confident than she was. 

Hanji patted her on the shoulder.

“Damn, you’re a fearless girl. Let’s get to work, then.”

* * *

Mikasa was not wrong when she thought Hanji would make her work to death.

That day she worked until she starved. 

Not literally, but she didn’t have time to grab lunch at midday with her friends.Only at 4pm was she able to take a break and buy something at a nearby Konbini. 

She was _exhausted_.

She had reached her limit with only four hours of sleep in two days, too much caffeine in her bloodstream and an empty stomach. She needed sugar, anything to keep her going for the rest of the day. Mikasa was in the cookie aisle, squatting down looking for her favorite brand, when she heard a voice next to her. 

“Don’t you want to have something more appropriate for lunch?”

Still squatting, she looked up where the voice came from.

It was Levi again.

He looked different from below. There was an energy Mikasa couldn’t explain in words: his face was sharper, his eyes were darker, and his locks of hair falling on his forehead hid half of his face. He had a completely calm expression, but it sent a shiver down Mikasa’s spine anyway. Now she understood what Hanji meant when she said not to be intimidated by him. 

He could easily intimidate anyone. Even in the cookie aisle of a Konbini.

But Mikasa was not just anyone. 

She tried to concentrate again on her pack of cookies.

“It’s way past lunchtime anyway,” she said, as she rummaged through the shelf.

He didn’t move.

“Still.”

At that moment, a thought crossed her mind.

“And how did you know I didn’t have lunch?” she asked, turning slightly to him.

Levi rolled his eyes. 

“Your desk is right in front of mine. It’s easy to notice when you don’t get up all day.”

Mikasa pressed her lips, trying to control her face from blushing. 

"Were you… watching me?" Levi raised an eyebrow, as if she was asking something obvious.

"I'm your supervisor. My job is to watch you."

"Is your job also following me?"

He clicked his tongue.

"Tch. Don't think too high of yourself. I'm also here to buy something."

They headed to the cash register after Mikasa found a pack of cookies she liked. Levi grabbed a bottle of water and a fruit cup, and waited in line behind her. Mikasa pulled out her purse, only then she realized she was using her purse with Eren's face printed on it.

And Levi noticed.

"You really like Eren, huh," he commented matter-of-factly. Mikasa shrugged.

"You also do." He grunted.

"I don't like Eren, I like the game…"

Mikasa twirled the package of cookies in her sweaty hands. The customer in front of her was sure taking their time to pay.

"By the way… I didn't see you there this weekend," she rambled, filling in the silence, trying to sound casual. 

He took a moment to reply.

"Yes, I was busy,” he replied dryly.

"Ah, I see.”

They walked back to the office in silence. They took the elevator together and Mikasa pressed the package of cookies against her chest as if it could protect her from something. Levi didn't seem interested in striking up a conversation, and looked at his cell phone listlessly. Mikasa did the same and pulled out her phone, though she had no notifications. 

She said goodbye to Levi in the elevator and went back to her desk to resume her work. Hanji asked her to program some codes, but for some reason, the code was not running at all. She had to take a look at it again to see if she had made a mistake. She took a cookie and ate it while her fingers typed rapidly on the keyboard. The numbers floated on the screen like stars. She was so tired that she didn’t notice that her eyes were closing on their own…

She didn’t realize when she fell asleep, until a hand shook her shoulder to wake her up. 

“Oi. Ackerman. Are you staying overnight at the office?”

Mikasa startled, confused and still groggy. She couldn’t recognize where she was. But then, she saw the keyboard she had slept on and the screen running her code.

_Ah, the office…_

“Ackerman?”

She turned to see who was calling her. It was Levi. Again. He still had a hand on her shoulder, and the other hand in his pocket. And his face was a mystery. 

There was no one else in the office, since it was 8pm already.

“Why don’t you call it a day?” he said. “Go home.”

Mikasa wondered why her friends didn’t wake her up and left her there to fend for herself at the office. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a notification light on her phone. It was a message from Sasha.

**_[09/03 - 18:50] Sasha:_ ** _We tried to wake you up, but you never did! Hope you are well. Take care!_

Well, they _did_ try to wake her up, but she was so deep in sleep that she didn’t respond. Her head was spinning. She will dive head first into her bed once she gets home.

She grabbed her bag from her locker and changed shoes, clumsily bumping into everything on her path. Perhaps this is what people would call aging: her body couldn’t stand so many sleepless hours anymore. 

After walking a couple of blocks, Mikasa was waiting for her train at the Roppongi Station. She gave a big yawn and a single tear crossed her cheek. At that moment, she realized someone was looking at her. It was Levi, and he had both eyebrows lifted.

“You sure are tired for a Monday, huh”, he said almost with derision. Mikasa’s face blushed and she averted her eyes. “Just for the record, I’m not following you”, he added. “We took the same train home. That's all.”

“I know,” she muttered, taking a scarf from her bag and tucking half of her face inside it. 

They sure bumped into each other that day a lot. But it was to be expected. They work in the same company, almost face to face, even though they never really talk. Mikasa was never quite talkative, nor did Levi seem to be that way either. No wonder why Petra thought he looked bored all the time. He looks bored now. But he could think the same of Mikasa. She also had that uninviting face, as if she was telling people “ _don’t talk to me_ ”. Or at least that is what her friends had told her. She couldn’t help it: it was her face after all.

“You should take care of yourself,” said Levi in a soft voice. He was not looking at her. He could be talking to anybody. The platform was packed with people, but there was only Mikasa there to hear him. And she only blinked in confusion and flashed a quizzical look his way. “You shouldn’t spend your whole weekend playing video games”, he added.

Mikasa was thankful to have her face hidden behind her scarf, because she probably was burning red now.

“How did you k-...?”

He rolled his eyes. “Because I’ve been there.”

For a reason, his comment made her feel lonely. She saw herself playing in pajamas in her tiny apartment, her hair made a mess, the curtains shut, only the blue lights reflected on her face. 

It also made her feel annoyed. He was one to talk about her life. He didn’t know her.

_He didn’t._

“Well, not all of us have dates to attend on weekends,” she grumbled behind her scarf. Levi almost choked. 

“What?”

At that moment, the train arrived at the station. A lot of people had gathered on the platform while Levi and Mikasa were waiting there, and as soon as the doors opened, a mass pushed them inside the wagon. Levi instinctively put an arm around Mikasa’s shoulder and pulled her closer so the crowd didn’t push her over. It probably looked ridiculous to the people around them, as Levi was at least ten centimeters shorter than her. But, he brought her closer with energy and determination. Everything happened so fast that Mikasa got carried away by his hand. She ended up at the other end of the wagon, her back glued to the window, and Levi trying to maintain a safe distance between them two as the other passengers tried to make room on the train. The train was so crowded that the station guards had to pull people out of the wagon. And while they waited for the train to leave, they stood face to face, avoiding looking at each other. 

It was getting warm with all the people crowded in that wagon, but it might also have to do with Levi’s body close to hers, so close she could feel him breathing. Mikasa wanted to take her scarf off, but she couldn’t move one single finger without touching Levi, so she opted to sweat behind it. She then noticed he still had his arm around her back, trapped between her and the window carriage. Mikasa couldn’t move to let his arm free either. And so they stayed.

“Remind me not to stay so late in the office again,” she huffed out from behind her scarf. He only grunted.

“This happens every time”

Finally, the carriage doors closed and the train started to move. Mikasa could not hold onto anything for balance, so she pulled her feet slightly apart to counteract the train movement. Her jawbone brushed off Levi’s locks of hair and she didn’t know how she was going to endure their thirty minutes journey. 

“Are you okay?”, he suddenly asked. He looked outside the window, because looking into her eyes would suggest too much intimacy. 

“Yes, I just feel… warm,” she said and hoped he didn’t misinterpret her words. 

He took a quick glimpse of her. “Take off that damn scarf then,” he said and it might have been a suggestion but it sounded like an order. Mikasa sweated even more profusely. 

She did her best to take off her scarf without touching Levi, and she failed entirely. Her face was reddened, small pearls of sweat ran down the side of her face, and her hair was probably a mess now. She had touched his hair with her scarf, and now his bangs were slightly frizzy as well. 

Then he noticed the letters embroidered on the scarf.

“Is your scarf also merchandise from God of Titans?” he asked with a voice of disbelief. 

Mikasa’s face blazed a crimson red. .

“And what about it?” she countered back. She didn’t have her scarf to hide her face this time. But she wasn't going to let him embarrass her. Even if _he_ was the legendary player of God of Titans everyone talked about.

He was one to talk.

“Besides, you should log into your game as soon as you get home,” she added casually, taking a glimpse of him to see his reaction. But she regretted it immediately. He was still too close. 

“Why do you say so?” he said, with an uninterested voice. But Mikasa felt his body startle slightly against hers. He _was_ interested. 

“I’m just saying…”

The trip didn’t take as long as she expected and after a couple of stops they were able to separate a bit, although the carriages were still crowded. They soon arrived at Akihabara, where Mikasa had to transfer. To her luck, the train doors opened on their side, so she said goodbye to Levi and got off the carriage. 

Once on the platform, she turned slightly and saw the doors closing, leaving Levi behind the glass. Mikasa waved at him, and he waved back.

The train left and she stood still on the platform, her hand floating in the air.

Her face felt warm, but it wasn’t because of the crowded train.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the train scene might be too cliché BUT I DON'T CARE I LOVE CLICHES AND AWKWARD SITUATIONS  
> (thanks for all your feedback❤️❤️❤️)


	5. An unplanned date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO!! At last new update!! I'm sorry if I don't update too often, but this is still within my 10-days range so I think it's okay, I don't feel too guilty (?). But yeah, I'm a super slow writer and last week I had SO MUCH WORK. I had barely time to think what's next, because yes, i'm a mess and there is no plot, i'm writing this on the run, but i'm having fun and that's what counts lol. THAT BEING SAID, this chapter is very stupid, but this is what you guys signed up for when you started reading this nonsense 8D.
> 
> This was once again beta-ed by @Naktergalen and I swear she's the best, always reading and correcting my messy writing and giving me encouraging words 😭❤️. Beta readers are the best thing in the world.

* * *

Levi turned on his console as soon as he got home, as Mikasa told him, only to find her at the number one position once more.

"Not again…" said Levi under his breath, plopping down on his sofa. A feeling of defeat swept through his body.

Well, there you have the reason why she looked as if she hadn’t slept a wink during the weekend: because she didn’t. Levi pursed his lips in concern (professional concern, of course). She better be sleeping now if she didn’t want to collapse tomorrow at work. 

"That cheeky brat," he mumbled to himself.

He casually checked his friend list (the only contact he had: Mikasa), to see whether she was sleeping or playing.

**xXxMikasaxXx is offline.**

She wasn’t there. He gave a long sigh. At least she knew when to stop. He opened the chat box and started typing.

**[11/04 - 22:20] Ackerman_87:** Sleep well.

Just before he hit the send button he realized what he was doing. 

_"What the fuck, Levi, seriously,"_ he thought to himself as he deleted the message with loud taps on the control buttons. Did he want Mikasa to report him for harassment?

At that moment, he remembered their train ride back home. The wagon was so full of people that he pulled Mikasa close to him. He knew what old guys did to women like Mikasa in a packed train, so he acted almost mechanically in the hustle of the moment. But then, _he_ was the old guy cornering a young woman against the window pane. That clearly didn’t turn out as he expected. Levi sank further into his sofa. He only wished he hadn’t made her uncomfortable, otherwise, he would’ve earned himself that report for harassment.

He turned off his console. For some reason, he didn’t feel like playing. Lately he had grown used to playing with Mikasa and playing alone wasn’t fun anymore. 

Why was he thinking of Mikasa again?

That girl appeared in his thoughts a lot these days. It didn’t do much good to see her every day in the office and then play with her all afternoon. They didn’t talk much, but she was always hanging around, and he had grown used to her presence, both real and virtual. It was still awkward between them though, especially those uncomfortable silences when neither of them knew exactly what to say.

But he wasn’t awkward just with Mikasa, it was the same with everyone.

He just had to think about his date (was it a date?) with Petra.

That Saturday was warmer than other days in March, so he wore a pair of jeans and a plain T-shirt. Petra had dressed as if it was the time of her life: a beautiful floral dress and a pair of heels. Levi felt bad for not sharing Petra's enthusiasm, as his mind wandered to what Mikasa had said the other day on the train.

_"You are making her think something different."_

Was he? Would it have been better to reject her?

He did his best to act as if he was having fun. But the truth was he only wanted to go home. They bought some ice cream and strolled through the areas of the zoo that Petra wanted to see, as Levi wasn't interested in any animal in particular. As they walked, they talked about their hobbies. Petra seemed very interested in learning about God of Titans, which made Levi too conscious of his unhealthy habit of playing all weekend long. Unlike him, Petra was a very outgoing girl with lots of friends and Levi had no idea why she wanted to spend a Saturday with him. They had nothing in common and they didn't connect either.

But did he connect with Mikasa?

And then he felt even worse for thinking of another girl during his date with Petra.

They had waffles for lunch at a nearby food truck and headed together to the aquarium. The aquarium was always a popular place for first dates and it was packed with couples holding hands. Meanwhile Levi and Petra were the odd couple walking almost three feet apart from each other. He didn't feel anything for her, not even in the darkness of the aquarium, with the blue lights illuminating her face like a movie. She was cute, funny, and talkative, and she probably wouldn't mind if he took her home or to a love hotel. But he didn't feel anything. Anything at all.

_Was he dead?_

They said their goodbyes around 4pm and each went home alone. Levi didn't know how that date really went, he only knew it was not one of his best. Was it the worst? He probably had worse. It had been a while since the last time he dated someone. He used to be asked out a lot during college. He didn't know why, but he would say yes from time to time, just to kill time.

(and to please his young libido)

But he never really felt anything. Attachment, yearning, longing. Nothing at all. He definitely could be dead as far as he knew.

He stopped by the store to grab some groceries and went home early. He was about to turn on his console and spend the rest of the evening playing when his phone rang. It was Erwin. 

Levi rolled his eyes before answering:

"Oi."

"So you are alone, huh," said Erwin at the other end of the line. Levi raised his eyebrows.

"Who am I supposed to be with?"

"With Petra."

Levi almost choked.

"Yes, we parted ways already." He could hear Edwin giving out a long sigh. Levi knew it was a judgmental sigh. "Why do you even care?"

"I don't know, it's nice to see a friend going out, meeting people, for a change," Erwin said in a voice of defeat that made Levi somewhat annoyed.

"Oi, you speak as if I were an hermit." he could clearly see his friend raising an eyebrow at the other side of the line.

"Aren't you?"

"No.” Levi said with determination. “I go outside… _often_ ,” he added with some hesitation.

"What were you gonna do now?” asked Erwin, and now it was Levi’s time to raise his eyebrows.

“What?”

“Were you getting ready to play the rest of the day away?” _How did he know?_ Levi looked around wondering if Erwin had installed a hidden camera in his living room.

"I—… and what about it?” he replied defensively, unable to deny what his friend already knew.

"Nothing," he said matter-of-factly. His shallow tone made Levi angry.

"I bet you I can spend this weekend without playing," Levi blurted out before thinking if he could keep his word.

"Why would you do that?"

Erwin sounded skeptical. Apparently he didn't believe it either.

"To prove to you I'm not a hermit."

Levi was acting very irrationally, but he was tired of those judgmental looks of everyone around him. Erwin, Petra, even his subordinates at work. He could still hear what Jean told him at their welcoming party. " _Thirty-one and still playing video games, huh_ ". That's why Levi assigned him to work with Oluo, let the real old man make him suffer. He wanted to prove them all he wouldn't let a game take over his life.

Erwin took a few moments to reply, as if he was pondering Levi's bet.

"Fair enough for me. I'll have some company for a Sunday morning workout"

"Wh—"

"See you tomorrow then"

"I didn't say yes!" He could hear his friend chuckling at the other side of the line.

"Hey…" Suddenly, Erwin's tone changed completely. "I'm sorry if I'm too insistent sometimes…"

"You are…" Levi interrupted him.

"And I guess I never apologized for getting into your game and accepting strange people as friends…"

 _Oh, shit_. 

Levi had known that Erwin would’ve forgotten about that. They didn’t speak about it agan and Levi tried hard not to bring the topic up. He didn’t want to explain to him that he hadn’t actually deleted the girl from his friend list and that said girl was actually Mikasa. He especially didn’t want Erwin to know that they played together almost every afternoon.

And that lately he wanted to play not just for the sake of playing but to play with her specifically.

Erwin would definitely laugh at him.

"Oh, it's okay, nevermind," Levi said in the most casual tone he had.

"What did you do in the end…?" 

_Shit, why did Erwin always have so many questions?_

"I… deleted her, I guess, I don't remember, it was long ago…" Levi was doing his best trying to drop the subject, but Erwin wouldn't let it go.

"Yeah, too bad you couldn't make friends with… how did it go? ex ex ex…?" 

_And why did he have such a good memory!!?_

"Mmm… I really don't remember…"

"Ex ex ex… Makisa? Mikas… Mikasa?"

A long silence hovered over them and Levi could almost hear how Erwin was connecting the dots in his head.

 _SHIT_.

"I gotta go," Levi said, trying to run from Erwin's upcoming questioning.

"Wait, Levi. Is it the same—?"

"BYE!"

And he hung up.

Night had fallen over Tokyo and only the blue lights from his TV screen lighted up the room. 

His phone started to buzz again and he turned it off.

He didn't want to think anymore.

* * *

"Why didn't you answer my phone calls? I thought something happened to you"

It was Sunday morning and Levi and Erwin had met for a run around the park, as they have arranged the day before. Of course, Erwin didn't forget that Levi cut off their conversation quite abruptly for no apparent reason.

They were both wearing joggers and sneakers, ready to run. But instead of taking off to start their workout, they were standing awkwardly in front of each other.

"Are we going to run or are we going to chat about our lives?" Levi barked, but Erwin was unbothered. He'd known Levi for several years, he could not intimidate him anymore.

"Are you hiding something?" Erwin asked, folding his arms. Levi wished he could be taller so Erwin didn't look down on him. Literally.

Levi averted his gaze.

"I'm just… avoiding unnecessary questioning," he said scratching his neck. He knew he was probably making it worse, but he really didn't want to talk about it. "It's nothing. There’s really nothing to talk about," he added.

Erwin tilted his head with eyes closed, as if he was pondering his answer.

"Well, okay. I'll ask no questions," he finally said.

They ran around the park, which gave Levi time to think and collect his thoughts. Why didn't he want to talk with Erwin about this? He was acting very suspicious, but there was nothing wrong with playing online video games with Mikasa in his free time, was there? They were playing together before they knew they were going to be superior and subordinate, it's not like it affected their relationship at work. Besides, isn't Erwin the one who always says that it is important to bond with your colleagues? That's why he organized those stupid drinking parties. Well, this was his way of bonding.

 _Bonding_.

That didn't sound good. Did it?

He suddenly conjured up what his uncle said the other day.

_"Just bang her already."_

Levi almost tripped over a stone in the road.

"Be careful there," Erwin's voice cut off his internal monologue. "Are you okay? You look… distracted," he added curving his lips slightly.

Levi narrowed his eyes. Of course Erwin would try to address the subject one way or another.

"I'm fine…" Levi assured under his breath.

Maybe he didn't want to face the fact that he was a thirty-something man looking forward to playing video games with a girl who just got out of college. He couldn't stop thinking about their age gap. Plus, this superior-subordinate relationship only made it worse. He didn't want to be seen as a creepy old man lurking on the new girl. He didn't want to _feel_ like one either. 

Truth was he did look forward to seeing Mikasa. Both virtually and in reality. He didn’t know much about her, other than she really loved God of Titans and carried maybe too much merchandise with her. He knew that she tucked her face inside her scarf when she was anxious, that she was really dedicated and hard-working, that she didn't talk much but had a sharp tongue, like him.

She was really something else.

Levi suddenly stopped running. Erwin noticed a couple of meters away. He turned around to ask him what was wrong, but Levi just stood in the middle of the road. Thinking.

Maybe he really was a creepy old man after all.

All these thoughts swirled in his mind when he and Mikasa took the train home together on Monday. It was all he could think when he had his arm around her back, feeling the heat of her body. When they were so close he could feel her breath against his forehead, his heart pounded at a different rate than it usually did.

_And maybe he wasn't that dead after all._

* * *

Next day, Levi arrived first at the office as he usually does. He cleaned his desk, took out the trash and dusted off his screen. After his morning cleaning ritual, he opened his mail and an endless list of emails unfolded. That was his least favorite part of the morning. If he even did have a favorite part. Maybe he didn't.

After a couple of minutes people started to show up: first Armin, very punctual, followed by Jean, then Connie giving a big yawn, then Sasha, giving an even bigger yawn, and finally, Mikasa.

That was odd. Mikasa usually arrived somewhere between Armin and Jean. 

"Good morning, Mikasa!!" Sasha greeted with a lot of enthusiasm for an early morning when the other girl appeared, at last. "You still look awful but at least it seems like you got lots of sleep!"

It wasn't as if Levi was eavesdropping, but Sasha talked so loudly that the whole damn department could probably hear her. 

Mikasa replied something in a soft voice that Levi failed to hear and couldn't help but steal a glance from behind his screen. 

She still had dark circles under her eyes, but at least she didn't look as if she was going to faint anytime soon. Mikasa took off her scarf, the same she wore yesterday and left it on her chair. Then, she looked in Levi's direction and caught his eyes looking back at her.

He didn't look away.

Neither she did.

They stared at each other for a long moment while everyone was preparing their work for the day.

Then, a voice interrupted him.

"Levi?" He turned slowly at the sound of the voice, as if he wasn't in a staring contest with Mikasa, which he clearly lost. It was Petra. She pulled one arm closer to her body with her opposite hand, in a gesture of uneasiness. They haven't talked since their… date, which made Levi feel like a jerk.

"Hi, Petra. Good morning," he greeted trying to sound casual, but he knew there was an awkward atmosphere around them. He knew she could feel it too.

"Ummm… can I talk to you?" She asked, pulling her arm closer to her body and looking down. 

"Ehhh, okay."

"But… not here?" She added. Levi raised an eyebrow wondering what she could possibly want to discuss in private.

Petra took him to the building's roof. From there, they had a panoramic view of the city and a gentle spring wind was blowing. Levi couldn’t remember he had ever visited the roof before. But he didn't want to be there at that moment, with Petra looking very serious.

"Levi… I… really like you," she said in a soft voice. Her face was pink, and she averted her gaze innocently. Any guy from the accounting department would have thrown his arms around her in joy, especially those who bashed Levi the other day. But he didn't feel anything. He felt sorry he couldn't feel anything at all. "...and I was wondering if you would like to go out with me."

Levi didn't know why she was asking him out like a highschooler would do, on the roof with a formal declaration and all. As far as he knew, adults didn't ask out anymore, they went with the flow and ended up in bed if all was good. At least it was like that when he used to date girls a couple of years ago. But maybe he was just being a jerk, making light of Petra's feelings, who was standing there as vulnerable as a teenager.

And then he felt even worse for not liking her back.

"I'm sorry, Petra," He said, tucking his hands in his pocket and avoiding eye contact. "I… don't feel the same about you." It was all he could say.

She nodded and wrapped her arms around her body trying to curl herself into disappearance. God, Levi felt terrible about all this, he just wanted it to end soon.

"Is there… someone else?" Petra asked suddenly. She was staring blankly at her shoes.

Levi gave out a long sigh.

"No." he said and scratched his neck. "Look. I'm sorry. I really am, but… I'm not... what you expect…" he mumbled in a soft voice, trying not to be so harsh on a rejected girl, and left.

He was a jerk for leaving her there alone. He knew it. But he was no gentleman and Petra didn't know him at all. She was lucky he didn't want to hurt her feelings, he normally wouldn't care. It annoyed him to be put in that awkward position. It was his fault though. He shouldn't have accepted Petra's invitation and made her think of something else, as Mikasa told him.

As he entered the software department again, he bumped into someone. He was so focused on his thoughts, ruminating on everything he had been put through the last couples of days that he didn't notice someone was coming out of the office.

“Look where you…” he was about to scold the other person, when he realized it was Mikasa. Her eyes were dual from lack of sleep still, and she looked like she was clumsily bumping into everything on her way.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sir,” she apologized with a little inclination of her head and headed towards the vending machines, where she bought a coffee. 

It wasn’t even noon and Levi was already fed up with everything and everyone, but seeing Mikasa loosened his furrowed brows a bit.

* * *

By the time it was 7pm, Levi was even more fed up with work, replying to e-mails and his endless meetings. There was hardly anyone left in the office. He looked at the cubicles in front of him where the new recruits had already left for the day (Mikasa too). 

Maybe it was time to call it a day. 

He stretched, shut down his computer, and headed to the locker rooms to change his shoes. As he walked to the subway, he thought he could maybe drop into Akihabara and buy a new cable to charge his console controllers (the old ones were already beginning to fray from so much use). 

It was spring, but the nights were still freezing, so Levi pulled his own scarf from his bag and wrapped it around his neck. There was no need, though, because the subway was packed and warm as usual. Luckily, he wasn’t with Mikasa, and didn’t have to worry about a possible incident of invading personal space again.

_Why was he even thinking about that._

After a long ride in silence, absorbed by the music in his headphones, he got off at his destination. Akihabara at night was always a spectacle: the fluorescent lights made him dizzy, as well as the loud music coming out of the stores. Giant billboards in katakana flickered around while girls in colorful hair and cosplay handed out flyers. Levi always found it hard to orient himself amidst so much stuff going on, but he quickly remembered where his favorite store was and headed that way. When he entered the store (a small local video game store), he came face to face with Mikasa.

Levi stood frozen, one hand on the door handle while Mikasa was flipping through a magazine.

“Ahh, welcome, Levi, sir!” the store owner greeted him. “What brings you here?”

Levi was speechless, his eyes fixed on the girl, who was as petrified as he was. The store owner looked at them respectively. “Ahh, this girl is Mikasa,” he explained. “She comes often to place several orders, mostly from God of Titans merchandise. Do you know her?”

 _Well, that explains a lot of things,_ Levi thought. He came to his senses and closed the door behind him. Mikasa still didn’t move a muscle.

“Ehm, sort of. We work together,” he mumbled. That was the bad thing about small stores: the owners couldn’t help but stick their noses in people’s business. The good thing though was knowing the owner personally, usually helps with personal orders and asking to find a particular item. Mikasa seemed to know about that too.

She soon hid her face behind the magazine.

Levi tried to get the cables he needed as quickly as possible, trying to ignore the awkward silence between him and Mikasa as the store owner searched through the drawers. After paying and tucking the package inside his bag, he hurried out of the store. As soon as the door closed behind him, the doorbell rang again.

“What do you mean by ‘sort of’?” said a voice behind him. It wasn’t an angry voice, but an inquisitive one. Levi turned slightly to see her. She had half of her face hidden behind her scarf, and the neon orange lights reflected in her black hair. Akihabara at night was so deafening that he had barely heard her, but the fluorescent lights illuminated her in a way that Levi had never seen before: spectral, but rather ethereal. She floated before him, as the orange lights turned blue and then red. “Levi?” her voice brought him back to the present.

He blinked several times, as if waking up from an illusion. “What?” 

Mikasa blinked back at him, and then sighed. “Nothing… I guess”. 

She wasn’t glowing anymore.

Levi stood in front of the store window and she walked past him, heading towards the street. Levi followed her closely, but not because he wanted to.

“I’m not following you…” he explained, fleeing from her visual contact. “It’s this way to the subway.”

She nodded. “Well, I’m going to the subway too”.

They walked in silence down the main street of Akihabara. The world was a confusion of lights, colors, and sounds around them and Levi felt an uneasiness in his chest. But something made him think that it wasn’t because of the overstimulation of the colorful stores and flashing billboards.

Suddenly, Mikasa stopped in front of a store window. It was none of his business, but Levi also stopped to see what caught her attention. They were in front of an arcade. It had no doors and it looked like the game machines were placed almost on the street, but inside there were more game machines and people playing, and even a staircase leading to a second floor. 

“Do you want to play a game in here?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked back at him with eyes he interpreted as defiant. 

“And what about it?” she said, and put a foot inside the building. “You are not following me, after all.” She took a purse out of her bag and put a coin in a game machine.

Levi felt odd. The last time he had been in an arcade was probably in high school. Even if he had carried on playing in the darkness of his room, he never did it in public. Now he saw this girl, clearly dressed in office clothes, playing without worrying about what others would say. Levi used to project this image that he didn’t care what others said, but the truth was that he secretly _did_ care. There was a reason he didn’t share his hobby with anyone else. 

But.

He didn’t mind sharing it with Mikasa. 

When Mikasa’s turn after her game finished, Levi tossed a coin into the machine.

“You want to play against each other?”

Night had long since fallen over Tokyo, but Akihabara continued to run like the gears of a colorful, clattering machine. Levi and Mikasa tried almost every game in that arcade (except the dancing ones, Levi would definitely not do that), and it was already time to go home. They still had another day of work tomorrow. As they were leaving the building, Mikasa fell behind again. When Levi turned to see what had stopped her this time, he saw her staring at a claw machine.

With plush toys of God of Titans.

Specifically, plush toys of Eren Jaeger.

Levi had to hold back a chuckle.

“You really like having God of Titans merchandise, don’t you?” he affirmed. Mikasa looked back at him and awkwardly tucked her face inside her scarf.

“I’ve tried to pull that plush toy out before and it never works for me,” she said in an almost sad tone.

Levi blinked several times, as he connected the dots in his head. 

“Do you want me to get it out for you?” he asked before he could even formulate the question to himself. Mikasa gave a startle.

“No, no, I didn’t mean that…”

_But they were already there…_

“Move. I’ll do it.”

He pulled a coin out of his pocket and the machine started running. Mikasa looked half annoyed and half embarrassed.

“I didn’t ask you to…” she retorted from behind closed teeth. 

“Sure, _of course_ , you didn’t ask me,” he mocked her. But the claw machine was pretty tricky and he couldn’t grab any plushes on his first try. 

He heard Mikasa chuckling under her breath behind him. A vein abruptly decided to show itself on his forehead along with a throbbing in his temple. 

“Just wait and see,” he groaned. Any trace of a smile on Mikasa’s face had vanished.

“Wait, don’t waste your money in this stuff,” she tried to stop him.

“Well, it’s my money after all. I get to decide what to do with it.”

After five attempts he managed to pull out the plush toy out of the claw machine and the game played a triumphant song. Levi smirked and hissed a “yes" in celebration.

Wait.

_What was that?_

This wasn’t his usual self.

What was this girl doing to him?

(Other than making him spend 2000 yen on a stupid plush toy.)

(Of Eren.)

Levi pulled out the plush toy from the claw machine and handed it to Mikasa avoiding eye contact. She looked at him with wide eyes.

“Is it… for me?” she asked. Levi grabbed Eren’s plush toy by the neck as if he were choking him.

“Why would _I_ want an Eren plush toy anyway?” he said matter-of-factly, still not looking at her.

They made their way to the subway. Levi with his hands in his pockets and Mikasa hugging her Eren plush toy that was as big as her upper body. She could barely see in front of her, so Levi had to guide her. People turned to watch them, because how could they not attract attention walking down the street with a giant plush toy? They were two adults in their office clothes, but they might as well be two highschoolers. People probably thought they were a couple, which made Levi’s chest flutter. 

That morning he had made light of Petra's schoolgirl-ish feelings, and ironically enough, now _he_ was the one feeling like an awkward teenager again.

He hadn’t felt this way in a long time.

“I took the Toden Arakawa line here,” said Mikasa peeking out from behind her plush toy. Once they arrived at Akihabara station, they had to go their separate ways. “Thanks for today. It was… _fun_ ,” she added and hid her face behind Eren.

Levi looked into Eren’s giant green eyes and frowned.

“Well, yeah, enjoy Eren. See you tomorrow,” he said and turned around to walk toward the Hibiya line. 

After a couple of steps, he peeked over his shoulder to steal a glance at Mikasa. 

And she was also looking back at him.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how did you find this unexpected date? 🙈🙈🙈 LEMME KNOOOOOW


	6. Planning a date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY!! Here I come with a new update 8D. 
> 
> I feel bad writing such a silly chapter after all the D R A M A the chapter 138 was (no spoilers. we all know that Isayama wakes up everyday and chooses DRAMA), but I guess this is my way of dealing with the imminent end of SnK 😭😭😭. I might be saying this every chapter but, for real, THIS CHAPTER IS VERY STUPID, I hope Isayama never finds out what I'm doing with his characters eheheh🙈. 
> 
> Also, I messed up with the timeline of events because I might have only one brain cell left. This story started at the end of March and we are now in May. I edited some past chapters so it wouldn't feel like it all happened in one week lol. I'll pay more attention to the dates from here on, sorry for being a mess eheh.
> 
> This was once again beta-ed by @Naktergalen and it's always super fun to read her reactions LOL she's the best ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 
> 
> Now, here we go!

* * *

Levi's head was anywhere but in their monthly company meeting. He didn't usually attend these reviews, it was Erwin's job, he was the head of their department after all. However, the latter had dragged Levi along when he made him the supervisor of the new recruits of their department. Not that Levi was especially happy about it, but it was too late to get out of it now. He's been doing this job for a month now and had to present the recruits’ progress reports.

All the heads of each department were seated around a large oval table. They were talking about finances, investments, sponsors, short- and medium-term goals, and other things that Levi was not particularly interested in. He didn't care about managing people, businesses or companies, he just wanted to be left alone to work at his desk in peace. From time to time, Erwin gave him a nudge so he would stop zoning out among so many important people, but _he_ got him into this mess, so _he_ had to deal with Levi's uncooperative attitude. 

Levi gave a half-hearted progress presentation of his department's new recruits including what projects they had been referred to, who they were working with, and what they had done. Levi thought it was stupid to expect results in such a short time, but the management department demanded such reports frequently and he could only comply and do his job.

However, he couldn't help but notice the piercing look Erwin gave him when he presented Mikasa's report. He was still pondering over the exact meaning of it when the meeting ended and both of them headed back to the software engineering department. Levi knew _one of those_ conversations was coming.

It indeed came. Erwin addressed him as soon as the elevator’s door closed:

"You still don't wanna talk abou—?"

"No." Levi cut him off. Erwin chuckled and lifted an eyebrow.

"But I didn't say anythin—"

"I know exactly what you wanna talk about and I don't." Levi interrupted him once again. 

They left the elevator and walked towards their desks. It was a normal busy morning in the department, the sounds of rapid typing of keyboards and the murmuring among colleagues filled the silence as they walked.

Erwin gave out a long sigh as they walked together. "Pfff, with that attitude it's hard to understand how you are so popular among women."

"And who said I'm popular among women?" Levi countered back.

At that moment, they reached Levi's desk. There was something out of place in his neatly arranged workspace: in the middle of his desk sat a bottle of tea from the vending machine with a note stuck on it.

 _"Thank you for the other day."_ There was no name on it, but Levi knew exactly who it was.

Erwin grinned at his side and folded his arms.

"Well, tell me more about how you are _not_ popular with women," he giggled with derision. “Your fans get you tea every week, from what I see.” Levi gave him a sidelong glance as he tucked the note inside his pocket.

“How do you know that?” he said between his teeth.

Erwin only smiled wider and placed a hand on Levi’s shoulder. “You really think I don’t know what happens in my office?”

Levi rolled his eyes and pushed him away.

"Shut up."

"Well, whenever you want to talk about it—" he insisted.

"Never."

"I'm here." He finished his offering and then left for his workspace. 

Levi plopped down on his chair and took a look at the tea Mikasa got him; it was jasmine tea. He'd rather drink black tea instead, but… he could give it a try, for a change. 

He gave a quick glance to the new recruits cubicles. They were all focused on their job, reading or writing reports, except Sasha who was watching stupid videos on the internet and giggling under her breath… as if Levi couldn't clearly see her from his seat.

"Oi. Blouse," he called her from a distance and she jumped up from her desk. "Cut that bullshit or I'll make you work twice as hard." Her friends held back a derisive chuckle.

"I'm sorry, sir Ackerman!!" Levi hadn't scolded her loud enough for the whole department to hear him, but Sasha was so noisy, that probably everyone knew by now that she fooled around in the office. "Please don't fire me!!" She asked with a deep bow.

Levi lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not going to fire you. Not that I'm able to do it either. Just… do your work, damn it." He muttered and went back to his duties.

But before he opened his email he caught Mikasa's eyes looking furtively at him with a small smile in her lips.

* * *

It has been a month since Mikasa (and the others) arrived at the company and Levi was growing used to this double life they led of supervisor and subordinate at work, and teammates in the game. If he really thought about it though, it was still strange. Luckily enough, they didn’t have to explain themselves to anyone, although Erwin constantly hovered around him trying to get to the root of it all. But anyone would say they were just work colleagues. They barely spoke to each other in the office, other than to formal matters. 

However, it was quite the opposite in the game.

 **[03/05 - 22:15pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** I’m having instant noodles once again for dinner...

 **[03/05 - 22:17pm] Ackerman_87:** Ahhh… to be young.

 **[03/05 - 22:20pm] xXxMikasaxXx:** More than… I don’t have time to shop for groceries at all. 

**[03/05 - 22:23pm] Ackerman_87:** I work as much as you do and you don’t see me eating shit four times a week. 

**[03/05 - 22:27] xXxMikasaxXx:** it’s hard being an adult TT

 **[03/05 - 22:30] Ackerman_87:** And you haven't even started. 

**[03/05 - 22:33] xXxMikasaxXx:** How come? Enlighten me, old man.

 **[03/05 - 22:35] Ackerman_87:** Oi. This might be a game but I’m still your superior. 

**[03/05 - 22:40] xXxMikasaxXx:** Only from Monday to Friday, from eight to six.

 **[03/05 - 22:45] Ackerman_87:** Tch. You don't have any respect.

The next day at the office, they greeted each other with a little bow, as if they hadn’t spent the whole night texting. Only a dedicated bystander would have noticed that they stole glances at each other more than was necessary. 

And there were some sharp bystanders in the office.

That morning Levi stopped by the konbini before he arrived at the office. He had a meeting at noon and probably wouldn’t have time for lunch at the canteen, he decided to buy a sandwich now to not waste his time later. When he was in line to pay, he saw that fruit cups were on sale. 

_“Maybe Mikasa needs to eat something healthy after so much crappy instant noodles,”_ he thought as if it was the most casual thing in the world to buy healthy snacks for your subordinates. So at the cash register, he paid for a sandwich and a fruit cup. 

Only when he left the snacks on Mikasa’s desk with a note stuck to it, he realized what he was doing.

Not by himself, but because someone snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Levi?” 

His fingers twitched when he heard Petra’s voice behind him. _Of all the people…_ He turned slightly and looked at her over his shoulder matter-of-factly, as if the colleague he’d turned down a couple of weeks ago hadn’t caught him leaving a surprise snack for another colleague.

_What the hell was Levi thinking anyway…_

“Good morning Petra.” He greeted her in his usual gloomy mood, as he walked to his station, pretending nothing had happened and hoping Petra hadn’t noticed what he just did. But Petra was a smart woman. She looked at Mikasa’s desk and then to Levi, back and forth. She gave a start, as if she suddenly remembered why she was there. 

“From accounting, I was asked to give you these reports.” she said, handing him a folder with documents that Levi just realized she was carrying. 

“Ahh, thanks. I will give it a look,” he mumbled. 

Petra was still standing looking at Levi and Mikasa’s desk, switching focus between the two. It was still early and there was no one else in the office. The atmosphere between them was growing awkward.

“Do you need something else?” Levi asked her, as he moved on to tidy up his desk, acting as if he was busy. 

Petra shook her head and smiled, but it wasn’t quite an honest smile.

“No… I’m just glad that… well… nothing,” she rambled, her smile faded slightly. “See you later...”. Petra waved goodbye and Levi watched her go. 

He gave a long sigh after that awkward encounter was over. Levi was still alone in the office. He could take the fruit cup off Mikasa’s desk, eat it, and get rid of the evidence.

_Buying her fruit… What the hell… What was he? Her mom?_

He was about to move towards Mikasa's desk, when Armin arrived at the office.

“Good morning, sir.” He greeted his superior with a small bow. 

Levi froze in the middle of the hallway that separated his desk from the other cubicles. He could no longer accomplish his goal without Armin catching him red-handed. Armin was also a smart guy. He could clearly see an item out of place on Mikasa’s desk and that Levi was the only one in the office. It didn’t take him long to connect the dots in his mind. Levi could almost see his face changing once he understood everything. 

Levi went back to his desk and stared daggers at Armin. 

"Is there something wrong, Arlert?,” he threatened him between his teeth. Armin gasped and shook his head frantically. 

He could threaten Armin, but he couldn’t threaten everyone in the office.

But there was no need to, because Mikasa came through the door a few minutes later. 

“Good morning, Arm-”. She froze in the middle of her morning greeting. “What is this?” She mumbled while taking the snack in her hands.

Levi pretended to be oblivious behind his computer screen, but he saw that Armin was making a gesture with his eyes, implying to Levi’s direction.

“Oh." It was all that he could hear coming from Mikasa's mouth as he sank his attention deeply into his screen and his emails.

* * *

Mikasa didn't address him at the office. It would've been too obvious for the prying eyes around them (Erwin head of that list, and was now followed by Petra and Armin.). So she confronted him online, later that afternoon.

 **[20/05 - 21:35] xXxMikasaxXx:** I took the hint. I stopped by the grocery store after work.

 **[20/05 - 21:39] Ackerman_87:** I don't know what you're talking about.

 **[20/05 - 21:43] xXxMikasaxXx:** Yea, of course................

 **[20/05 - 21:45] xXxMikasaxXx:** thank you, by the way :).

Levi didn’t reply and left the message floating in virtual space while they played a game together. But he couldn't stop thinking about that smiley face as he flew through that forest of pixels and attacked algorithm-controlled titans, alongside Mikasa's avatar in the game.

They had been playing together for almost two months now and had developed a particular play style. It was difficult to communicate well over chat in the middle of fights, so they had learned to read each other and know what the other was thinking in advance. Levi never had a gaming partner with whom he got along so well with, and to his surprise, he enjoyed the game better than even before.

_Would he feel the same if that partner was anyone else but Mikasa?_

He tried to cancel out those awkward thoughts by fighting a particularly difficult titan and he tapped on his control buttons so hard that he was sure they would pop out at any moment.

After a long gaming session, Mikasa wrote in the chat again.

 **[20/05 - 23:00] xXxMikasaxXx:** Did you know… in a couple of weeks there’s a God of Titans convention in Saitama… 

**[20/05 - 23:05] Ackerman_87:** No, but it’s not that I'm going to conventions either…

 **[20/05 - 23:08] xXxMikasaxXx:** ooh… I've never been to one myself.

Levi stared at the screen for a long moment. The room was dark, and the artificial lights illuminated his tired face. _Was she… inviting him?_ He moved closer to the screen to read the message once again. Then, another message popped up. 

**[20/05 - 23:10] xXxMikasaxXx:** Well, if you change your mind, we could go together… 

_Now_ she really was inviting him. 

Levi must’ve looked very ridiculous with his nose stuck to the screen, so he sat back down on the sofa. He meditated for a moment as he tapped his fingers against the control. They hadn't spent much time together apart from that unplanned time at the arcade (Levi's stomach flipped at the sudden flashback). It would be nice to hang out with Mikasa out of work. He would be lying if he said he didn’t want to know her better, but he couldn’t find a way to accomplish that. But Mikasa just went and asked him. Maybe he was giving it too much thought.

He sighed as he sunk further into the sofa.

“Young people sure are bold…” he mumbled out loud.

And then he remembered the main reason why he didn’t go to conventions. He didn't want to be the only thirty-something in a sea of teenagers hyperventilating over a game, wearing cosplays, and buying collectibles (he could clearly picture Mikasa doing the latter). The thought of it turned his mood sour. He'd rather enjoy his hobby from a safe distance.

_He wasn't that hung up on her._

_Right?_

He shook his head as if he could clear away that certain thought that crossed his mind.

 **[20/05 - 23:17] Ackerman_87:** I’ll let you know if I change my mind. 

He wrote. But he was sure he wouldn't. 

* * *

Another day of meetings that could’ve been an e-mail instead. Levi entered the conference room where five colleagues were waiting for him and dropped a folder on the table.

"Let's get this shit done quickly.”

The meeting was with the project managers with whom the new recruits were assigned to. There, they gave Levi inputs about their work and their performance, so he could write his monthly report.

"I don't know about you, guys,” said Hanji with a broad smile, “but Mikasa is the best! I’m so lucky to have her with me."

Keith Shadis, Sasha’s superior, rolled his eyes beside Hanji. 

"Well… Sasha is a decent worker when she gets into it. Which is hardly ever the occasion."

"I think Connie and Sasha are cut from the same cloth, then." Mike Zacharius, Connie’s superior, replied, as he rested his chin on his hand in a gesture of boredom.

Levi was no more thrilled than he was.

"Well, me and Jean are great colleagues now,” Oluo replied proudly.

Levi clicked his tongue at his side.

“Yes, we all know you both go drinking every Friday to the usual Izakaya,” he said sharply. The group giggled around them. 

“It’s called bonding with your colleagues.” Olou defended himself. 

“So now you are following Erwin's teachings, huh.” Mike observed.

“Hey! I never told him to go drinking.” Erwin interrupted, sitting at the head of the table with his arms crossed. “There are other ways of bonding. I go running with Armin, for instance.”

Levi raised an eyebrow at the other side of the table. 

“So you replaced me.” he deadpanned. Erwin blinked at him.

“You can join us this week if you wa--”

“No, thank you.” He cut him off, moving back to his documents. 

Oluo continued talking:

“Also, being surrounded by young people is very refreshing,” and then he added almost with a nostalgic sigh: “Those times when you could still fall in love and hope for something.”

The muscles in Levi’s face tightened, but it was not him who spoke first. 

Hanji almost climbed on the table to get closer to Oluo.

“Oooooooh, Jean likes someone??” she asked in a nosy tone that Levi found obnoxious. 

Although he also wanted to know.

He hadn’t forgotten _who_ Jean liked during college.

“You are the one to ask,” Oluo hummed. 

“IS IT ME!?” Hanji nearly shouted. The conference room had glass walls, and although the rest of the department couldn’t hear them, they were probably wondering what they were talking about with Hanji leaning half her body across the table and yelling at Oluo.

“Not _you_ , stupid,” mumbled Oluo. “But someone close to you.”

“CLOSE TO ME!?” Hanji shouted again.

It wasn’t Levi who stopped the nonsense their meeting had turned into, but Keith.

“Can we please stop this bullshit so we can finish this meeting?” he suggested, closing his eyes and massaging his temples. 

They went back to the topics Levi wanted to evaluate during the meeting and he noted down the insights of his colleagues, while Hanji asked Oluo over and over again who Jean liked (as if it wasn’t obvious enough).

After about thirty minutes, the meeting was finished. Levi stayed in the room as he finished writing down some points and the rest left the room (and Hanji chased Oluo so he would answer her). Only Erwin was left in the room, leaning against the door.

Levi barely lifted his eyes to look at him.

“Now I know why you don’t call me to run anymore,” he casually said as he finished writing.

Erwin rolled his eyes.

“Didn’t know that you were the jealous type.”

“Oh. You have _no_ idea.” Levi replied, emphasizing each of his words. He arranged the papers he was working on and put them away in the folder. Then, he stood up from his seat and walked towards the exit, when he noticed Erwin was staring at him. “What?” he asked almost defiantly at Erwin’s faint smile.

“You must be feeling very jealous now, then.” He hummed and folded his arms.

Levi lifted an eyebrow and replied almost with contempt: “About Armin? Tch. I couldn’t care less actually.” 

He could see Erwin was doing his best to hold back a laugh. 

“I’m not talking about Armin here.”

“Oh.”

_Oh._

Levi froze for a minute, as if his body had stopped functioning for a moment. But he quickly came back to his senses and frowned at his superior.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he declared, and tried to leave the room, but Erwin blocked him before he could exit.

“You know what you’ve gotta do,” he hummed once again with a wide grin. Levi growled under his breath.

“Just let me through,” he demanded and Erwin let him go, still holding back a chuckle.

Levi stormed out of the room. He didn’t know why but he felt irritated. Not especially with Erwin. But with Oluo. No, not even with Oluo. He was just... _pissed_ at everyone. His stomach was going round and round as if he had a black hole inside of him. Levi didn’t know what this was all about. Or maybe he knew. But he hadn’t felt it in a while. 

He didn't even want to name it.

When he reached his workstation, he saw Jean casually leaning over Mikasa's desk in the distance. The swirling in Levi's stomach spread throughout his body and swallowed him deep down. He gritted his teeth and slowly sat down at his desk as he watched Jean and Mikasa talk. The black waves of a raging sea Levi didn't know he had inside of him were pounding against his walls, and he knew there was only one way to calm them down.

After a few minutes, Mikasa walked out into the hallway toward the vending machines. And Levi followed her behind. 

The girl had her back to Levi and was rummaging through her purse standing in front of the machine's fluorescent lights. Levi came up behind her and rested a hand on the machine. Mikasa hadn't heard him coming and gave a startle when his hand slammed against the glass panel.

"When is your stupid convention," he mumbled under his breath, avoiding eye-contact. "I'll come with you."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LEMME KNOW HOW YOU FELT ABOUT THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE I LOVED WRITING IT 8D


	7. Of course this wasn't a date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another week, another update :) 
> 
> I really enjoy writing this fanfic! It's very fun and light-hearted lol and I don't have to think too much about the plot because (there isn't) it's pure nonsense and silly head-canons, namely, Mikasa being a figure collector LOL.  
> And I really really really appreciate all your comments, reactions and excitement over this story 😭😭😭 I read all your comments and I reply every one of them because I'm such a clingy author SORRY NOT SORRY. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it ❤️.
> 
> This was once again edited by @Naktergalen and I had so much fun while reading her suggestions and reactions, she's the best ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ and she's the reason why you are reading this without typos and weird sentences because I'm no native English speaker but I write fanfics in English anyway because the. audacity. of. this. bitch.
> 
> Sorry I wrote too much lol. Here is next chapter!

* * *

Levi was waiting in Saitama Central Station way ahead of time. He was leaning against a pillar, wearing a plain white T-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a black cap in his head. He tried not to make too much of a fuss about his _date_ -he hated that word- with Mikasa. It technically wasn’t a date. He didn't invite her out, neither did she. Levi was only accompanying her because she didn't want to be on her own. That was all.

Erwin laughed so much at the other side of the line when he asked Levi about it.

"And how do you even know?" Levi had asked his superior. He didn't even try to hide it anymore. Erwin was too clever to try to fool.

"Armin told me," he said straight-forwardly. Levi growled to himself and made a mental note to give him extra work on Monday.

"Wait, but how did _he_ know?" Suddenly it came to Levi's mind that Armin shouldn't have known about their planned rendezvous. He hadn't seen them together… as far as he knew...

"Well, let's say that _your friend_ is Armin's best friend and they tell each other pretty much everything," he said casually. And Levi knew what he was implying.

"Don't be so nosy," he growled under his breath.

Truth be told, it wasn’t only Erwin, but everyone noticed that there was _something_ going on between Levi and Mikasa _._ Even though they barely spoke in the office and acted as if they didn't know each other, everytime Levi needed to tell her something about her work or when he handled her some documents, he could feel the eyes of everyone around him switching to his direction. Or maybe he was just being paranoid. Who could care what they were doing with their lives as long as they delivered in their work. But the truth was… everyone was a fucking busybody in that office and rumors spread like wildfire. Levi only wished they'd spread slowly enough so that they didn't reach Hange and her over-the-top-enthusiasm-about-everything... yet. 

But a convention in Saitama was safe enough. He'd thought about it, it wasn't as if he'd decided to come with Mikasa in the heat of the moment when he saw Jean flirting with her, of course not. Saitama was outside Tokyo, and although it was easy to reach by train, he didn't know of anyone that lived around there, so they could be safe from curious eyes. He wasn't still comfortable with the idea of going to a game convention, but it was too late to back out now. 

He looked at his wristwatch. It was 10:55am, they decided to meet at eleven in the morning that day. He could see the people getting off the trains wearing God of Titans cosplay or t-shirts, and while he had no problem with the younger people enjoying their hobby as they pleased, he felt uncomfortable being there. As if he were intruding on a place that wasn't meant for him. On the last train that passed, a horde of people got off, and Levi stared at the crowd walking away as he waited for Mikasa. It was late May and days were getting warmer . While he thought about buying an iced tea from the vending machines before heading to the convention he saw Mikasa walking towards him. She was quite a bit taller than the rest of the girls (to Levi's unfortunate luck), so he could immediately spot her in the crowd.

His heart skipped a beat, but not in a good way. 

“Why… are you wearing a God of Titans… T-shirt…?” he muttered in disbelief when she reached his side. 

Mikasa wore a black bucket hat, a pair of jeans shorts and a white oversized T-shirt with a black and white drawing of Eren. She just blinked at Levi’s question.

“And what about it?” she countered, unbothered. “We are going to a God of Titans convention, aren’t we?”

She’s got a point. Still, Levi didn’t want to be a self-evident fan, but he also didn’t want to ruin Mikasa's day either.He was the one who decided to come along with her in the first place, so he just rolled his eyes and shook his head. 

“Nevermind, let’s go.”

* * *

The God of Titans convention was as dreadful as Levi had imagined. It was held in an event hall near the station, and it was packed with groups of cosplayers, screaming teenagers, and kids running up and down the hallways. He probably would’ve had a better time at home playing on his couch, but he would’ve missed Mikasa having the time of her life. 

Mikasa wasn’t the type of girl to get excited about the world around her or smile often. From what little Levi knew of her, in fact, she was quite the opposite, but Levi could tell something excited her when her eyes sparked with a certain glow. He’d already seen it when they came across the Eren plushie back in the arcade. Now her eyes sparkled with scenes taking place all around the convention. A particularly good group of cosplayers (who she took a sneaky photo of), a special display of God of Titans collectible figures, famous gamers playing against each other, among others all brought forth that tiny fire that lit up her dark eyes. Levi was definitely not having a good time, but his frown eased a bit at seeing Mikasa excited as a reserved girl like her could be.

After a couple of hours wandering around the convention, they stood in line to grab a quick lunch. Mikasa kept looking everywhere around her, not wanting to miss anything and Levi didn’t want to distract her, so he stood silently at her side. He was getting his wallet out, when he heard the conversation of the group in front of them.

“Man, did you see how _Eldian_Soldier_ wiped out ten titans in just three minutes?" An overly excited teenager told his friends.

"Meh. Surely _Ackerman_87_ could have done it better," one of the friends replied. Levi lifted an eyebrow. _Were they… talking about… him?_

"For me, it's just a bot. He can't be as good and not show off in these conventions."

Levi almost rolled his eyes.

"Have you heard? People say it's someone famous that doesn't want to reveal he plays."

"I heard that he's a millionaire and he doesn't care about profiting from gaming."

Levi couldn't hold back a chuckle, because he wished he could be a millionaire so he wouldn't waste his time at his stupid job. The group overheard him laughing and looked back at Levi defiantly.

"What are you looking at, midget?" Said one of the teenagers. Mikasa snatched her attention back at Levi. 

"Sis, get a grip of your little brother," one of the friends added. 

Anger slowly crept into Levi’s eyes as he folded his arms in a stance preparing for an altercation. The group immediately stepped back, turning to face the front and deciding it was wiser not to pick a fight with that certain intimidating guy. Levi was about to retort when Mikasa grabbed him by the shirt and shook her head.

He kept quiet, but really hated that the height difference made them look exactly like an older sister scolding her brother.

They bought some sandwiches and headed to a bench outside the event hall. Levi hadn't spoken a word until then.

"Those brats… they were talking about me," Levi didn't know how to address the topic without sounding so cocky, but that's exactly how it was, if his ears didn't deceive him.

Mikasa opened her sandwich, not paying enough attention: "What do you mean?"

Levi, on the other side of the bench, looked at his sandwich as if he wasn't hungry anymore: "They were talking about my nickname in the game… _Ackerman_87"_ he mumbled his username under his breath because it sounded ridiculous out of the virtual world. "As if they knew how I played…" he stared at some point in the horizon, connecting the dots in his mind. "As if… I am famous in the game."

Mikasa didn't look surprised and just nodded as she ate her sandwich. 

Levi frowned at her.

"What? Did you know?" He snarled. Mikasa seemed to choke on her sandwich at the sudden question and just nodded again. Levi's stomach sank at Mikasa's confirmation. "You _did_ know and you didn't tell me?" He muttered with a slightly exasperated tone.

Mikasa swallowed a big piece of sandwich in a rush before answering: "You always said that you didn't care about the game community."

"Yes, but this is different." 

She raised an eyebrow.

"How come?" Levi didn't know how to explain himself. He only thought that if his nickname was known in the game, that's something he would want to know eventually. Even if he was only known by a group of teenage brats cosplaying at some shitty convention. "Did you really think you would go unnoticed being the number one player?" Mikasa countered and gave her sandwich another bite. Levi still hadn't touched his own.

"And what about you? Are you famous?" He asked, the question leaving his mouth quicker than it formed in his mind. She was the second best player after him after all. Mikasa choked once again and took a moment to reply.

"I might be," she humbly said. "I just peek into forums and social media just to see what they say, but I never comment." She placed the sandwich over her legs as her expression quickly changed to a solemn one. It wasn't as if Mikasa had a wide range of expressions actually, but Levi was slowly learning how to tell the subtle differences. "I guess I'm afraid of being in the public eye." Levi nodded at her side.

"That makes two of us." He mumbled softly. 

Levi was more of a withdrawn person. He didn't have many friends and his ideal weekend scenario was to lie around playing video games, cleaning his apartment or going alone to a coffee shop to read a book. Going for a run with Erwin from time to time was also tolerable, because they didn't have to talk while running (although Erwin managed to do it anyway). Being in the spotlight was not something he was striviing for, and he would even say he didn't care at all actually what people thought of him. For some reason though he _did_ care if some cheeky brats made fun of him.

He didn't forget they called him _midget_.

And that they thought he was Mikasa's little brother.

He frowned at his sandwich as if it was the one that called him a midget. 

"What is it?" Mikasa asked when she saw him staring irritably at his sandwich. 

He just shook his head as if he could get rid of the insult. "Nothing…" and he added, to change the subject: "by the way, what do you want to drink? I think I'll get something at the vending machines." 

Levi finished his meal and headed to the vending machines inside the event hall. As he walked, he was still mulling over the brats' remark. He didn't know why. His height was never a problem for him, he would say that 1.60cm was pretty average for a japanese man. All the girls he'd dated in the past were his height or smaller. Petra was smaller, she could even wear heels beside him. He mashed in the machine’s buttons irritated that his mind was generating thoughts he didn’t want to dwell on. _Why was he even thinking about that?_

When Levi came back to Mikasa, he saw a group of boys around her. Levi lifted an eyebrow. _Were those her friends?_ Mikasa didn’t mention any friends playing God of Titans, and if she did have them, why would she’ve asked Levi to come with her in the first place? The group of nameless guys gave a startle when they realized Levi's presence.

"Do you know these people?" Levi asked her. It was a group of three guys around the same age as Mikasa and wore God of Titans paraphernalia. Mikasa did too, but in a more fashionable way than they did. They also put out an awkward aura that Levi found suspicious. He glared at them and they stepped further back. 

"Ah shit, she got a boyfriend," said one of the guys. Levi got the slight impression that they ambushed her seeing that she was seated alone. _Well, at least I’m not her little brother anymore_ , he thought.

"He can't be her boyfriend, he's too short." 

Levi squeezed the bottle in his hand. _Not the height issue again..._

"But look, they’re wearing matching clothes."

Levi and Mikasa stared at each other with wide eyes. Apparently, neither one of them had realized they were both wearing a black hat, a white T-shirt and dark blue jeans. Levi quickly averted his eyes from Mikasa, feeling the color rushing to his face.

"Bye, miss, it was a pleasure to meet you." One of the guys said an awkward goodbye and they almost ran off from them. Neither Levi nor Mikasa said anything for a moment, and Levi sat down once he felt the redness on his face was gone.

"Just who _the fuck_ were those weirdos,” he commented under his breathe as he opened his iced tea and drank a long gulp. Mikasa rolled her eyes as if she was slightly annoyed, but something made Levi think that her annoyance wasn’t directed at him. 

_I came with her to this shitty convention, she better not be annoyed at me_ , he thought to himself.

"Just random guys that wanted to explain to me something about God of Titans…” she folded her arms and replied in a tired voice, as if it wasn't the first time it had happened to her. Then she frowned and added, completely pissed: “without me asking."

" _What_ " Levi couldn't figure out why anyone would think that was a good idea. Especially if they wanted to flirt with Mikasa. Because you didn't have to be a genius to realize that _that_ was exactly what they were attempting to do.

Mikasa glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"That happens everytime when you're a woman playing video games,” she said in a tone of why-do-i-even-have-to-explain-this, but the truth was that… Levi didn’t know… and he hadn’t thought about it before either. “Dudes just want to talk with you because you are a girl, and they try to explain stuff to you as if you don’t have an idea, or as if you played just to impress boys.”

Levi wordlessly took a sip of his tea, being very careful to _not_ reveal the fact that he’d accepted Mikasa as a friend just because she was a girl very good at his favorite game.

As if that didn’t make him the same as those weirdos that just tried to hit on Mikasa just because she was a girl (a pretty girl) in a gaming convention. 

At least he didn't tell her how to play, because, God, she could kick his ass any day if she wanted to.

"Well that sucks.” he commented, not very sure of what to say about a situation he hadn’t experienced. Changing the topic, he rummaged through the plastic bag he carried with him and handed Mikasa a bottle of iced tea. “Here's your tea.” 

She grabbed the bottle with both hands and looked at the label. "Jasmine…”

"You bought it for me last time so I thought you'd like it.” Levi explained. Mikasa looked at her bottle first, and then at Levi’s.

"Do you like dark tea better?” She asked, tilting her head, and Levi had to look away again as he felt the sudden rush of colour rising to his face again. Mikasa looked very different outside of her work clothes.

"Yes,” he replied shortly as he took another sip of tea.

She lowered her gaze. "Oh, I didn't know. Sorry.”

"Tch, you didn't know,” he said, still looking away, staring at people in their cosplays as if he had never looked at anything more interesting, “and it would've been weird if you knew it without me telling you…” he added under his breath. 

"What tea did Petra get you last time?” Mikasa asked out of a sudden, and Levi was taken aback. _What did Petra have to do with any of this?_

"What time?” he asked, because he really couldn’t quite recall. 

"That time… at the office…” he suddenly remembered one of the first few weeks since Mikasa arrived at the office. Petra tried to find an opening to talk to him by buying tea for him. Not that he complained… but... he wondered why Mikasa recalled that.

"Black…” he simply answered, not very sure if he liked where the conversation was going.

"How did she know?” Mikasa insisted, and Levi rolled his eyes.

"I don't know… maybe I told her?” he replied in a more irritated tone than he would’ve liked to answer to Mikasa. “We've worked together in the past, it could've been one of those times…” he mumbled trying to soften his voice.

A breeze blew past them, which Levi was grateful for, because as the day passed, it was getting warmer and this conversation wasn't helping him to cool down.

After a long moment Mikasa spoke again:

"She's not getting angry that you are spending time with me?” she asked in a hesitant voice. Levi raised an eyebrow so high that it might have merged with his hairline, because, _where the fuck did she get that idea?_

"Why would she even be angry?” he countered.

"I don't know…” Mikasa shrugged. “You had a date with her not long ago…” she added under her breath. 

"Yes, but it didn't mean anything…” he tried to explain, not sure why he had to explain anything at all. He just hung out with her once. Just like he was hanging out with Mikasa now. That didn’t mean... “There's nothing going on between Petra and me.” He added, preventing his head from completing the sentence. “We're just colleagues…”

"Oh I see…”

Perhaps Levi was too hard on the poor girl. He couldn't be angry at Mikasa if she wanted to know what was happening between Petra and him. He also felt jealous whenever he saw Jean getting close to Mikasa.

_Jealous of what..._

"Well, is there anything else you want to see?” he asked, trying to soften the awkward silence that was hovering over them, and secretly hoping that they would get the hell out of there.

Mikasa’s lips curled in a barely perceptible smile.

"Oh you have _no_ idea.”

Levi rolled his eyes. _Why did he even have to ask?_

* * *

After circling the convention grounds a couple more times, with Mikasa buying a couple more figurines for her collection and Levi eating dango while Mikasa watched the cosplay contest finals with child-like glee, the raven haired girl decided she had her fill of the convention.

( _About time…_ )

Night had already fallen as they walked to the train station. Mikasa, carrying her loot from the convention, and Levi walking beside her with his hands in his pocket.

“Say, Mikasa. Where do you live?” Levi asked suddenly, when he realized he didn’t know the answer. Mikasa looked at him, and tilted her head.

“Eh? Why?”

“I don’t know… do you want to go home or do you want to do something else?” he asked matter-of-factly, as if he didn’t care if he stayed longer or went home. Truth was that the idea of being at home was very appealing, but he wouldn’t mind staying if that’s what Mikasa wanted as well.

The evening lights barely revealed the pink tint on Mikasa’s cheeks.

“Like… what?” she asked, making the unconscious gesture of covering her face with a scarf she wasn’t wearing.

Levi rolled his eyes, wondering which of the two was denser. 

“You tell me… want to grab a beer?” Mikasa gasped, as if Levi had proposed something illegal. He raised an eyebrow. “What is it… you are over twenty, aren’t you?”

Mikasa nodded, but said nothing. Levi gave out a long sigh and scratched his nape. The atmosphere was surely uncomfortable between them two. After all, he wasn’t just a gaming partner inviting her to a beer, he was also a superior asking his female subordinate if she wanted to hang out _at night_. He definitely hated this ambiguous situation they were both in. 

“Nevermind. You go home if you are too tired,” he said, trying to get Mikasa out of that awkward situation he had put them both in. _What was he thinking anyway… asking her out..._

They were still walking toward the station, but Mikasa lagged behind. Levi turned slightly over his shoulder to see her, finding the girl looking at her feet, absorbed in her thoughts. “What?” he asked dryly.

“I’ll go…” she almost whispered under her breath, and Levi couldn’t quite hear her.

“What?”

“You went to the convention with me, so I’ll go grab a drink with you,” she said, raising her eyes to meet Levi’s.

He just blinked at her. “Oi. Don't say it like I’m forcing you.” and she gave a startle.

“No!” she quickly retorted. “It’s like… but... why though? Did I force you to come here?” Levi averted his gaze and said nothing, consenting with his silence. “Hey!” she cried out with a completely flushed face. “I never dragged you here, _you_ accepted to come.”

And, unexpectedly, the corner of his lips curved in a slight smile. “Well, let’s go grab those drinks before the bars close.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I am so jealous of this fictional characters going out for a drink WHILE I CAN'T!!!!! WHEN IS THIS PANDEMIC GOING TO END!!!!!!)
> 
> Well, tell me how you feel about this chapter 8D you know I love reading your reactions!


End file.
